The Valory Music Co.Whether it was a blessed arrival, an adoption, an engagement or a marriage, the country music family grew by leaps and bounds in 2017.
Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman started the ball rolling last New Year’s Eve, adopting a newborn baby girl named Dolly, much to the delight of her ten-year-old daughter Daisy.
Later in the month, on January 24, Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney welcomed his firstborn son, Asher James. Both Shay and his musical partner Dan Smyers would tie the knot with their ladies in 2017: Dan and longtime girlfriend Abby Law were married May 13 in Nashville, while Shay and former Miss Arkansas Hannah Billingsley wed in the Ozarks on October 20.
Few families had a baby boom like Thomas Rhett and the members of Lady Antebellum. TR and wife Lauren found out they were pregnant with Ada James, just as they’d finalized plans to adopt the now-two-year-old Willa Gray from a Ugandan orphanage. Willa arrived in mid-May, right before Mother’s Day, giving her several months’ head start on Ada, who came August 12.
Lady A’s Hillary Scott revealed she has twin girls on the way in February of next year, just as bandmate Dave Haywood and his wife Kelli made way for a special Christmas delivery on December 22: Lillie Renee Haywood, a baby sister for their three-year-old son Cash.
Though they’d initially been told they were having a boy, Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and his bride Hayley welcomed daughter Olivia Rose on December 23.
Other 2017 births:
–There’s now one more resident of High Valley, as April 7 brought Curtis Rempel and wife Myranda’s little one, Millie June.
—Justin Moore and his wife Kate welcomed Thomas South on June 11.
—Dalton William Danks was born to Ashley Monroe and her husband, pro baseball player John Danks, on July 28.
—Jason and Brittany Aldean’s firstborn son Memphis arrived on December 1.
–“My Girl” hitmaker Dylan Scott made way for his boy, Beckett Scott, on December 12.
And three leading ladies of country music took themselves off the market in 2017:
–Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd revealed their engagement in July, with a wedding planned for March 24.
—Kacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly tied the knot October 14 in Tennessee.
—Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans cemented their union with a ceremony December 2 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
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