Country Star Walker Hayes Reflects on Grief, Parenting and Songwriting
By Movieguide® Contributor
Country artist Walker Hayes recently opened up with Fox News Digital about infant loss, songwriting and parenting.
“In 2018, the now-44-year-old country star and his wife, Laney, suffered a devastating loss after their daughter, Oakleigh Klover, died shortly after birth due to a uterine rupture that nearly ended Laney’s life as well,” Fox News Digital said.
The death nearly ended their marriage, too.
“That’s the kind of stuff that destroys marriages,” Hayes said. “I mean, obliterates them like a bomb, you know?”
“And Lainey and I grieved in completely different ways,” Hayes added. “I was angry, she was sad for, like, two years.”
Their daughter would be 6 years old next month if she had survived.
“Honestly, I have no answer,” he said. “I can’t tell you why we’re on this side. And we’re still hanging in there.”
The singer plans to create a song for Oakleigh and doesn’t mind taking his time until he’s got it just right.
“I will definitely sit down when the right stuff falls out that I think comes even close to doing my daughter justice, and it’s beautiful enough to share with the world about her and about this experience,” he told PEOPLE.
“One thing that I’m grateful for is there was some point in my life where I began to write songs and that began this communicative side of me where I felt the need to say it all,” he told Fox. “Let’s throw it all on the table, and you can do what you want with it. But selfishly, it’s not inside me anymore.”
Writing songs helped him communicate and opened the door to better relationships with his family.
“I will say that that has been a gift, and I’m forever grateful,” he said. “It’s improved my relationship with my kids, with my wife. Brutal honesty and communication, highway wide open. I do think that that’s a large reason why I’m unafraid to expose my family for the good and the bad and just say, ‘Hey, we’re still a family.'”
In 2021, Hayes made a song called “Fancy Like.” It went viral when he and daughter Lela danced to the song in a TikTok video. It eventually hit no. 1 on Billboard’s country chart.
“I think when most people in Nashville think country musicians, and they come across my name, [it] is not just me that they think of,” Hayes said. “They think of my daughter, the OG dance, you know, the first dance we did. They probably think of Laney. They probably know our story with our children.”
“They probably know my testimony,” the “Good With Me” singer said. “They probably know a lot about my life and family.”
“If you dive into my socials, you really don’t see much of me,” he said.
And that’s true. His latest video from May 5 boasts about his wife’s taste in the house that they’re building. Another recent clip features his son Baylor attempting to do 100 water bottle flips in a row.
“That keeps me grounded,” he said. “It reminds me to focus on them. Honestly, when I wake up, that’s what matters most to me is, ‘How do I be a better husband? How do I be a better dad?’”
“Because I want to take care of Laney,” he continued. “And I want my kids to be set up for life because life’s going to throw a lot at them. And I just want them to know that their dad loves them.”
He notes that he doesn’t do anything perfectly.
“I mean, I fail miserably. Yesterday, I threw a plastic chair and my kids made fun of me all day for it. And I love that they did. We were doing a trick shot, and I couldn’t get it,” Hayes said.
“I threw a plastic chair against a tree and just destroyed it,” he added. “And it made me feel better. But listen, I hope people see me now at least just trying and feeling inspired to try. Let’s just try together.
Movieguide previously reported Hayes’ sobriety story:
Country star Walker Hayes is sharing his faith journey from “alcoholic atheist” to a sober Christian and the impact one man had on his life.
“I’m eight years sober this October,” he shared. “I woke up one day when I was working at Costco. I was working at Costco from 4 to 11 and then writing and then playing shows. And man, it caught up to me. And honestly, I had been drinking since I was probably like 13.”
He continued, “I woke up one Saturday, and I just felt like I was going to die. I felt like physically if I did one more day, something was wrong. And so I stopped, and then one day turned into two and then two turned into a week. And then a week turned into a month. And then I did the whole high on sobriety thing and got into working out and stuff. Kind of traded a bad addiction for some good ones.”
Hayes said on the TODAY show on May 2, “Everybody loves a drinking song,” he said. “(But) sobriety is so amazing that you love to pass it along. It’s a great option we have in life. There is freedom from addiction.”
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