Luke Bryan Reveals How His Sister Tragically Died

In 2007, Luke Bryan‘s sister Kelly suddenly died—and no one’s ever fully known why.

She was a healthy, 39-year-old mother of three who died at home. Her death was part of a succession of family tragedies in the Bryan family, which also included—seven years later—the death of Kelly’s husband Ben Lee Cheshire. That’s why Bryan and his wife Caroline adopted their three children, who ranged in age from 13 to 20 at the time.

But fans have never fully understood why Kelly died, and many have assumed that the Bryan family were concealing her true cause of death from the public.

Previously, Bryan simply said it was “like someone turned the lights out.”

He was careful to steer speculation away from theories about overdose or suicide, but other than that, he didn’t offer too many answers.

Now, in a revealing and emotional new interview on CNN’s All There Is podcast, Bryan tells host Anderson Cooper that there’s a simple reason why he’s never shared why his sister died.

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“I’ve never really explained what happened with my sister,” Bryan says in the newly-released conversation.

“There’s some misinformation out there on the Internet. And I think some people … wonder what happened and think we that we’ve tried to cover it up,” he continues.

But the unsatisfying truth is that, after multiple autopsies, coroners couldn’t find any reason why Kelly died that day.

How Did Luke Bryan’s Sister Kelly Die?

“There is a very, very small percentage of people that die for no reason in the world. It’s called sudden death syndrome,” Bryan explains.

“That’s essentially what they described my sister’s death as. She was in her home doing her laundry and … it was like, you know, somebody just turned the switch off on her,” he shares.

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“It was just tragic beyond words,” the singer adds.

• Healthline describes Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) as a “loosely defined umbrella term for a series of cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and possibly death.”
• Some of those are caused by structural abnormalities in the heart, or irregularities in the heart’s electrical channels.
• SDS is more common in young or middle aged adults.
• Since it has no symptoms and often goes undiagnosed until a cardiac event, it’s unclear how many people have SDS.

How Did Luke Bryan’s Family Find Out What Caused His Sister’s Death?

During his appearance on All There Is, Bryan confirmed multiple autopsies were performed to determine his sister’s cause of death.

“Obviously we wanted to know what had happened, because there was just so much unanswered questions,” he shares.

“Your typical findings of someone 39 would be an aneurysm or an embolism or a blood clot of some kind, and everything was inconclusive. She had a pretty severe orbital bone injury. So whether she fainted or not, I think she may have went into the floor and kind of knocked herself out,” Bryan continues.

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The singer also says he wishes she had had another adult in the home that day.

“I just think if someone could have been there, maybe her chances of surviving would have been … they would have been a lot better,” he reflects.

Looking back on the tragedy, Bryan remembers the massive presence Kelly had in his family and in her home.

“She was everything in our lives. She was a mother of three children, and she was, I mean, the best mother you could ever dream of. And we all leaned on her for so many things,” he says.

“It’s hard to really wrap your brain around her being gone,” the singer adds.