Luke Bryanmay be one of country’s top solo acts, but at home he’s half of one of country’s most enduring duos: He andhis wife, Caroline,first met 23 years ago, while bothwere still in college, and this December, the couple — now the parents of two boys — will celebrate 15 years of marriage.
“Our household’s crazy,” the 45-year-old superstar says, describing their life together for the latest cover story of PEOPLE magazine. “We just have a ball in life and have a ball with our kids.”
Today, Caroline, 41, says she did have an inkling of what she signed up for. “Luke has a God-given talent to entertain — it’s so natural to him,” she tells PEOPLE. “He’s the guy that walks into a room and everyone wants to hang out with him. We’ll be at an event, and I’ll be ready to head home and go to bed. Meanwhile, Luke will have made his way into a DJ booth and taken over. He is always there to make people smile and have a good time.”
For more onLuke Bryan’s PEOPLE cover story and other top stories, listen toour daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
But Luke is also sensitive about overshadowing Caroline, hoping she is perceived as far more than “Luke Bryan’s wife.”
In fact, in recent years, Caroline has elevated her public profile, making memorable appearances inLuke’s Jockey underwear commercialsand attracting almost 1 million followers to her social media. Her popular Instagram account is a crazy quilt of posts that reveal her often goofy sense of humor easily matches her husband’s well-known merriment.
Luke Bryan.Jim Wright
RELATED GALLERY:Luke Bryan and Wife Caroline’s Cutest Instagram Photos Together
Of course,Luke Bryanfans know the couple has long engaged in playful prank warfare, and each holiday season, Caroline plans and executes a no-holds-barred “Pranksmas” with friends and family members serving as willing victims.
“It brings a lot of uncertainty around the home,” Luke says with a chuckle. “Once she started doing it, she started realizing that people are having a blast with this stuff. Now I find that we’re sitting in bed at night, and I’m like, ‘Hey, so-and-so’s coming in. You ought to do this to him.’ So it makes us kind of get together and plan out some funny stuff.”
The pranks, Luke says, set the happy tone that the couple wants for their household, which includessons, Bo, 13, and Tate, 10,and19-year-old nephew, Til.
“It lets us have some fun and lets us laugh,” he says, “and it makes the boys get engaged and want to be goofballs and crack up with people. So it sets a tone of ‘not seriousness.’ I mean, we’ve all had the friend whose parents were all business, and our household is certainly not that!”
It’s now home to over 25 animals, including ponies, pigs, kangaroos, goats and a llama, and Caroline has been able to open it for private visits from families with children who have medical needs. “The animals bring so much joy to us and to the children!” says Caroline.
RELATED VIDEO:Luke Bryanon His Country Music Career
“Til wanted to come live with us, and we were so honored that he wanted to do that,” says Luke, recalling that Caroline, especially, stepped in to offer the boy the emotional support he needed. “My wife had so many nights with him, just helping him talk out his grieving process.”
These days, Caroline also has taken on a special role for oldest niece Jordan, now 26, helping her plan her upcoming wedding.
Luke is obviously in awe of his wife’s way with kids, and he loves how she parents their two boys.
“I can’t take my children anywhere that someone does not compliment them on their manners and behavior,” he says. “And that is 1,000 percent her art. Every time somebody says something, it makes me go, ‘This is her.’ And I try to let her know when those moments happen because that’s a big thing.”
Luke says he also appreciates Caroline’s occasional reality checks when he gets a bit too full of himself. “She’s always been the one that really isn’t drinking all of my Kool-Aid,” he says. “When I’m getting shined up, she kind of pulls the reins back. She keeps it real.”
Caroline and Luke Bryan.Jim Wright
Through the years of laughter and tears, the couple says their bond has only grown tighter. “There’s some ‘opposites attract’ that goes on” in the relationship, Luke says, and “I think it makes us drive each other crazy, but then it pulls us together, too. We’ve gotten better at understanding when we need to sit down and work through something. And we’ve also gotten better at realizing when we just need to forgive each other and move on, and we’re not gonna let something hang us up for a couple of days. Life’s too short!”
Caroline agrees. “Just like everyone, we have our arguments, bad days, and disagreements,” she says. “However, we always talk out our problems. Marriage isn’t always a fairy tale! It’s a battle that both people have to be willing to fight. Each day whether we are blissfully happy or not, we fight for each other.”
And she adds — as if there were any doubt — “I’ll love Luke until my last breath.”
source: people.com
