When Kane Brown welcomed his daughter, he vowed to be the father he never had: his biological father was sent to prison when Brown was young and his step-father was abusive. “I’m excited,” Kane told ABC News. “You know, me and my wife are in it together, and I get to be the dad that I never really had.”

On 1st November 2019, Kane attached the following caption to a photo of his newborn: “I grew up without a dad so I’m gonna be the best one I can be!”

Growing up without a father doesn’t mean Kane had no guidance in life: his mother, grandmother, and aunt raised him to be the fine young man he is today.

Kane and his mom moved around a lot when he was young

Kane was born on 21st October 1993 and grew up in Tennessee. He had a European-American mother, Tabatha Brown, and African-American dad with Cherokee roots. In his early years, Kane thought that he was white, and didn’t know that he was biracial until he was 8. He told People:

“I thought I was full white, which honestly, I can’t even really say because I didn’t see colors. I found out that I was biracial and I still wasn’t thinking anything of it, but then I started getting called the N-word. I didn’t even know what it meant, and that’s when it started affecting me. I got in fights over it when I was little.”

Brown dealt with insults among his peers, and at home, he suffered physical abuse from his stepfather. He revealed in a song titled Learning that when he was six years old, his stepdad nearly beat him to death because he wet the bed. Kane’s detective grandmother came to the rescue and put his abusive stepfather in jail.

At times, Kane and his single mom slept in their car as they moved around Georgia searching for jobs. Kane’s grandparents occasionally offered Kane and his mom shelter. As a result, Kane’s grandparents played a crucial role in raising the future star. Brown told Country Now:

“I did have my grandparents, and grandads that were around, but I was mostly raised by women and they taught me just how to be a southern gentleman.”

Kane’s mom now lives in comfort thanks to her son. In October 2017, he gifted Tabatha a car after her vehicle was repossessed. Tabatha tearfully accepted the birthday gift and expressed relief that Kane wasn’t injured during the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting.

Kane keeps in close contact with his incarcerated father

For a long time, we knew that Kane was brought up by a single mom, but we didn’t know much about his father. According to Country 102.5, Kane revealed during a party that his dad went to jail in 1996. The particulars of his crime and his sentence are unknown, but Kane stated that he maintains contact with his dad. He told Popculture:

“He is a drummer, which I didn’t even know. He brags about me and talks about how good he is on the drums. I always joke with him as say that I’m going to hire him when he gets out.”

Kane became successful despite growing up without a father, but he doesn’t want to miss out on his daughter’s life. He talked to ABC News about the joy of being a father:

“I’m excited. You know, me and my wife are in it together, and I get to be the dad that I never really had.”

Brown’s music video for Good As You is dedicated to his mother and grandmother

Kane dedicated the love song Good As You to his mother and grandmother. The video shows the struggles they went through raising Kane.

In the film, Kane peeks out of his room and sees them worrying about bills. The next day, Brown gets bullied in the bus after his mother sends him to school.

As he heads home, Kane’s grandma, a sheriff, breaks up a fight between the bullies and Brown. She takes him home where Kane joins his sister making dinner for their mom. Kane talked to CMT about the strong women who raised him:

“My Mom worked multiple jobs and my Nana truly was a sheriff in my town. To be able to honor them is incredible because no matter how much we struggled, my Mom and Nana never let me see it. They sheltered me from any problems and I appreciate them for that.”