Rick Diamond/Getty Images
Eric Church and his wife Katherine Church in 2009.
Eric Church is a mega-star, but his family is often out of the limelight. Here is what you need to know about this Super Bowl performer’s wife, kids, parents and siblings.
1. Eric Church Has Been Married Since 2008
Jason Davis/Getty Images for T.J. MartellSinger-songwriter Eric Church and Katherine Blasingame Church attend Best Cellars Wine Dinner hosted by T.J. Martell Foundation on April 24, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The couple were married in 2008, in a ceremony at the Westglow Spa & Resort in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Having a wedding in the state of North Carolina was meaningful for Church, as born and raised in the state.
CMT reported that the location had special significance for the couple: “Katherine and I stayed there last year, and we just fell in love with the place,” Church told reporters.
The Sun noted that Church performed a special song for Katherine on their wedding day. That song, You Make It Look So Easy, features lines about the couple’s relationship, such as:
“I got a hard head, I was born that way
And that makes me wrong more than I say
But I thank God you got a hard head too
I guess he must have known you’d need that to get us through”
2. His Wife Also Works in the Music Industry
Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesPublisher Katherine Church (L) and singer Eric Church arrive for the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 18, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Eric Church married Katherine Blasingame in 2008. Eric Church met his wife Katherine through work, as the two both work in the music industry. While Church works on stage as a performer, wife Katherine is a “behind the scenes” force.
The couple met when Blasingame approached Church to work with a songwriter Katherine knew. As Church recounted to Taste of Country, “she was trying to hook me up to write with one of her writers that she represented.”
Since the couple both work in the same industry, Church often talks through songs with his wife, and considers her part of his “inner circle”. In an interview with Taste of Country, Church said, “being somebody in the industry, I can bounce songs off of her and she has the knowledge, you know, to be kind of that sounding board of what I should cut and what I shouldn’t cut. So, she’s one of those in the inner circle that I run a lot of stuff by.”
3. Eric Church Has 2 Sons With Wife Katherine
Eric Church and his wife, Katherine, have two sons together. The eldest is Boone McCoy Church, born in 2011. People notes that the country legend’s son was pictured in a guitar case shortly after his birth.
The younger child is Tennessee Hawkins, nicknamed “Hawk”. People noted that the country star announced his wife’s pregnancy with Hawk by “tweaking” some lyrics to a song while performing on tour.
Taste of Country reports that the couple’s young sons often travel with their dad on tour, which is almost certainly more fun for the performer than when he used to pay the bills by answering phones at the Home Shopping Network.
4. Eric Church’s Dad Worked in Furniture (Inspiring Eric in a Similar Project)
Eric Church will join @jsullivanmusic to sing the National Anthem for Super Bowl LV! Make sure to tune-in on Feb 7 to the Super Bowl on @CBS Kick-Off Show at 6 PM ET #SBLV @NFL pic.twitter.com/TtrohEoEmc
— Eric Church (@ericchurch) January 19, 2021
According to an article from Furniture Today, Eric Church comes from a family of furniture industry insiders.
Church’s father, Ken Church, worked at furniture companies like Broyhill, Clayton Marcus, Ladd Upholstery and Southern Furniture. Eric Church himself also worked for Clayton Marcus, at an upholstery plant, before he hit the big time. Church ultimately came out with his own “Highway to Home” furniture collection, which includes both bedroom and dining room pieces.
As for his mother, Church has referred to mother Rita Barlow as “the toughest person that I’ve met” in an interview with Country Now. In 2016, the Country Daily reported that the Chief Cares Fund, founded by Church and his wife, had donated $1 million towards diabetes research. The donation was in honor of Eric Chuch’s mother, who has type 1 diabetes.
5. Eric Church’s Had Two Siblings, But His Brother Died
Eric Church’s younger brother Brandon has passed away aged 36 https://t.co/YgKdUo4XSL pic.twitter.com/XKppEM5Mjn
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) July 4, 2018
Eric Church’s brother, Brandon, passed in 2018. According to his obituary in the Hickory Record, Brandon was both “Student Body President and co-captain of the football team” in his youth, before becoming a songwriter and chef in his adudlthood.
Brandon’s cause of death was reported by People as “consequences of chronic alcoholism,” noting Brandon Church’s history of alcohol abuse and seizures caused by withdrawal symptoms.
US notes that Brandon worked on some of Eric’s most notable songs, including How ‘Bout You and Without You Here. Church’s sister, Kendra, was married in 2009, with Eric Church’s wife Katherine serving as matron of honor.
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