Anderson Cooper hosts a CNN podcast called All There Is. It's about a topic that most of us don't want to think or talk about, but one that everyone will eventually experience - death. Cooper has guests who discuss their own painful losses and how they dealt with the aftermath. One of those guests was country music star Eric Church.
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Church lost his brother, Brandon, in 2018. He was only 36 years old. Per TMZ, the autopsy indicated that Brandon Church, in the words of the outlet, "died as a result of chronic alcoholism." He also had seizures from alcohol withdrawal. Brandon apparently suffered a seizure that sent him into cardiac arrest, leading to his untimely death.
Eric Church Struggled Emotionally After Brandon Died
Coping with his brother's passing was very hard for Eric. His world had irrevocably changed. Accepting that was a grueling challenge. He told Anderson Cooper, "When my brother died, I didn't comprehend that it's never going to be the same again — with my parents, with their relationship, with the whole family, the family dynamic. When my brother died, I wasn't prepared for that part."
Vince Gill Gave Him Wise Advice
The two country music stars did not know each other well. But they had a sad fact in common. Both of them had lost a brother. Vince Gill's sibling, Bob, passed away in 1993. He generously shared something with Church that helped him immensely.
Church said, "I didn't really know Vince very well. I'd met him. And he actually was the first one that said to me, he said, '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. Nothing's ever going to be the same. And the quicker you understand that, the better you'll deal with it.'"
Gill's Words Sank In
Those words were impactful. They made sense to Church. From the depths of his grief, he heard them. And he adjusted his perspective. Church at last found some solace.
"I was sitting there thinking, well, it was grief. We've always been the family. But looking back on it...he's exactly right. It never is the same. When something like that happens, it changes everything. And it becomes a new normal."
