Eric Church is opening up about his brother’s death in a new interview, revealing how words of wisdom from Vince Gill helped him deal with the grief.
How Did Eric Church’s Brother Die?
Church’s brother, Brandon, died in June of 2018 at the age of 36. His cause of death was consequences of chronic alcoholism.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on his All There Is With Anderson Cooper podcast, Church says Gill called him up “two or three days after my brother died,” even though they did not know each other well at the time.
Read More: Eric Church’s Brother, Brandon Church, Has Died
What Did Vince Gill Say to Eric Church After His Brother Died?
Gill’s brother, Bob, died in 1993 after suffering a heart attack, and Church says Gill offered him some hard-earned wisdom about what he was going through.
“And he actually was the first one that said to me, ‘You don’t understand this now, but you’re never going to be the same. Your mom and dad are never going to be the same. Your sister’s never going to be the same. Y’all are never going to be the same as a unit.”
Gill told Church that the “quicker you understand that, the better you’ll deal with it,” but Church admits he “didn’t get it” at first.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘Well, it was grief. We’ve always been the family.’ But looking back on it, he’s exactly right,” Church observes.
“It never is the same. When something like that happens, it changes everything. And it becomes a new normal.”
Church tells Cooper that when it got too difficult in his early days in Nashville and he was ready to throw in the towel and move back home to North Carolina, Brandon moved to Nashville to support his dream.
“He wouldn’t let me go,” he recalls.
“He said, ‘No, you’re not. You don’t come here. I’ll come to you.’ And he moved out and it kept me in town,” Church states.
READ MORE: Eric Church Shares Regrets About His Brother’s Death
“A year later, things started to kind of happen, but I don’t tell a lot of people that, but I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him doing that, because that was an ultimate commitment. He dropped everything.”
Country Stars Who Suffered Unthinkable Tragedy
Not all country stars came by their storytelling ability naturally. Sadly, many singers have encountered great tragedies in their lives, or have overcome sharp odds to get where they are today. Many have battled unbearable, unimaginable pain.
