Luke Bryan Says He's Slowing Things Down and Focusing on Family After 'Rough Year'

Luke Bryan is taking a step back.

The country star, 46, admitted in a new interview on Monday that he’s looking to spend some quality time with his family after a “rough year.” 

"I'm not really balancing it that well this year," he told Entertainment Tonight of trying to juggle his career with his brood — wife of 16 years, Caroline, and their two sons, Thomas "Bo" Boyer, 15, and Tatum "Tate" Christopher, 12.

Bryan added that he has told his wife, who was his college sweetheart, that they will jet off on a tropical getaway together once the year is over. 

"I'm like, 'Baby, this is a rough year, let's just get through it and then we'll find a boat and go to the Caribbean or something,’ ” he continued.

So far, 2023 has been a busy one for the country star, and it doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. 

The singer has just wrapped season 21 of American Idol, won by Iam Tongi, and he recently headlined CMA Fest at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville. He will then kick off his Country on Tour tour on June 15 in Syracuse, New York, before playing 35 other dates across the US and Canada through to Oct. 28. The star returns to his Las Vegas residency at the Resorts World Theatre, starting on Aug. 30. 

Bryan went on to note that while he is still going to be “real active” next year in terms of his career — “I love to get out there and work,” he told ET — he is also "gonna slow down a few things."

But when he does get a rare few days off during his hectic schedule this year, Bryan said he jumps at the chance to go "golfing and fishing with the boys” and hit the baseball field with them. 

"They're playing travel baseball," he told ET. "You just try to make your time with them at home really, really count."

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In 2021, Bryan told PEOPLE he was in the “golden years” of fatherhood and that his sons had become his “buddies.”

"As they grow older, it's easier to let them tag along," he told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "They become little men and they become functional little microcosms of me. Their personalities are really different … They become your buddies. I mean, they're still your kids, you still have to do the discipline and you still have to teach them the right and wrongs of life, but they really morph into your buddies."

He continued, "I mean, it's like the sweet spot of being a dad right now and you can let them tag along."