In his new docuseries, Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary, the country superstar recounts the personal ups and downs that he struggled with during the early days of his career.

Early on, the singer admits, he struggled to leave his small Georgia hometown and family behind in order to chase his dreams of a career in music. But in a new episode with ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, Luke credits his dad with giving him the push he needed to strike out on his own. 

“I thought that my role was to take over the family business, and him kinda telling me, ‘Life is short, life is precious. You only get one go-around at this life. So go chase your dreams so that you can never regret [not doing that,]’” he remembers. 

“I mean, we all have the friends and the people in our lives who never truly went out there and chased all their dreams,” Luke goes on to say. “He really encouraged me to not be that person. So when he told me that, when I got his blessing, it took any of the pressure and any of the stress that I had to stay in my little hometown.”

Without that encouragement, the singer might never have tried his luck in Music City — or become one of country music’s biggest stars. 

“I picked a date, I moved to Nashville, and thank God, the rest is history,” Luke concludes. 

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