If you're a longtime fan of Luke Bryan, you might be familiar with the country star's rise to fame amid multiple family tragedies. He initially postponed moving to Nashville to follow his dreams after his older brother Chris passed away in a car accident, but the pain and loss didn't stop there. Bryan and family suffered another loss years later with the loss of Bryan's older sister Kelly and her husband, Ben Lee Chesire.
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Luke Bryan opened up about how he has managed to find purpose throughout all of the unimaginable tragedies he's endured over the years in the IMDB TV docuseries Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary. The CMA winner has learned to appreciate what he has because as he puts it, "we're not promised another day."
Bryan's brother Chris passed away at the age of 26 in 1997. Then in 2006, Bryan's older sister Kelly died of natural causes at the age of 39. She was survived by her husband Lee, who passed away from a heart attack seven years later. Bryan and his wife Caroline Boyer welcomed their three children into their Tennessee home and have raised them ever since. The Bryan family grew from Luke, Caroline, and their two boys Thomas and Tatum, to include Jordan, Kris and Tilden Cheshire.
"I've had so many tragedies in my life," Bryan told PEOPLE, "it's almost like you don't want to tell the story because you don't want to feel like you're out there craving sympathy."
But the country singer has never allowed all of his personal pain to affect his career, which fans will get to see in the upcoming docuseries (available to stream now). The five episodes chronicle his upbringing in Georgia to the beginnings of his country music career and current fame as a superstar. It will be a compilation of archival footage as well as new interviews that really give you an inside look at the American Idol judge's personal experiences over the past two decades.
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"You truly never get over it," Bryan tells PEOPLE. "You truly never settle in your mind that it's happened. I mean, it's always there. If I can inspire people to move on from tragedy, hopefully by my behavior," he says, "that's what life's all about for me."
Bryan acknowledges that he's always been a positive person but has had to work hard to find a silver lining through everything that has happened to his family. But he believes he has some guardian angels looking out for him between his two lost siblings and late brother-in-law.
"Maybe Chris and Kelly and Lee have moved some puzzle pieces around to make my life so fortunate," he says. "When I say my prayers at night, I have to say, 'Thank y'all for looking after us down here.'"
READ MORE: Luke Bryan's Life as a Family Man: Get to Know the Country Star's Children
