Sam Hunt is leveling up! The “23” hitmaker says he has a whole new sense of purpose and perspective on life after welcoming his first child, Lucy Lu into the world with his wife, Hannah Lee Fowler.
The couple, who wed in 2017, then filed for divorce before calling off their divorce, said hello to their adorable daughter in the summer of 2022. Now that Hunt is experiencing all of the joys that come with fatherhood, he says his outlook on life has changed – for the better.
“[Fatherhood] has given me such a sense of purpose — at home and out on the road,” the 37-year-old singer told Audacy’s Katie Neal. “A new appreciation for life in general. I think I leveled up overnight, evolved 10 or 20 years overnight.”
Hunt is especially grateful for his new role as a dad because he is realizing how much starting a family has taken a backseat to his music career in years prior.
“With babies, they’ve always been in my peripheral [vision]. People have babies. It’s not something I’ve connected to,” Hunt added. “I appreciate babies and young children, but my life has kind of taken precedence. I’ve had my own thing going. But now, every time I see a child at the airport or a baby at a restaurant, I’m just enamored by it…. The miracle is all around me now. I didn’t see it before but now, having a child, my eyes are open to it.”
So open that Hunt says he is even considering having more children.
“It’s an experience I’ve always wanted to have — being a father — but now that I’ve had it, it’s definitely a life-changing deal, a bucket list deal. I waited a little while, but I’m glad I became a father. I look forward to having, hopefully, some more,” Hunt said. “…I’m trying to have as many as I can before I age out before we age out.”
For now, Hunt is doing his best not to miss any special moments with little Lucy Lu. He says he sometimes catches even the littlest changes in his growing baby when he’s out on the road being a country music star. So, whenever he can be off the road, he cherishes family time. Luckily, Hunt says he will be home more often in the fall.
“In my spare time off the road, I have been hanging out with my baby girl as much as possible, staring at her, watching her grow, little by little because when I leave, I realize how much she is growing,” Hunt said. “She’s doing fantastic. She’s eating and sleeping and growing fast…. You miss out on two or three days at a time, and you can see the little changes at home as far as growing up… But, I’ll be home in the fall quite a bit.”
As for his music, Hunt seems to be doing a pretty good job of juggling his professional and personal life. Over the summer, he released a new laid-back track titled “Water Under The Bridge,” which appears on his forthcoming, yet-to-be-announced album. Hunt opened up about the song he co-wrote alongside Chris LaCorte, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne, and the upcoming third-studio record.
“This record, and the songs that I’ve been writing since the pandemic, they’re all sort of from the place of a guy who’s gone out into the world, experienced the world, seen a lot of things, learned a lot of life lessons but has come full circle and made it back home and is really appreciating where he’s from,” Hunt said. “That’s a big part of my journey since I left home.”
“I’m recording right now… I have the songs sitting there. A couple of them are missing a line or two. I just need to get the lyric ironed out. But, I’ve already recorded five or six, ” he added. “There are obstacles to getting it all done in one big swoop, but it’s coming together. I’m in the recording phase right now, trying to get it all buttoned up.”
