Mother’s Day is an annual holiday celebrated on the second Sunday each May. Most, if not all, of your favorite country artists will be honoring their moms and/or wives, or rejoicing over the fact that they are mothers on Sunday (May 12th). Check out Mother’s Day memories and moments from our artists, including Darius Rucker, Eric Church, Keith Urban, Lady A, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town and Shania Twain, among many others.

AUDIO: Darius Rucker talks about not disappointing his beloved mother, who passed away a few years ago.

Darius Rucker (Mother’s Day) OC: …killed me. :17
“I think that’s the main reason I am how I am…an innate fear of disappointing my mom.  My mom’s not even alive, and I have a fear of her looking down from heaven and going, ‘Man I’m just disappointed in my son.’ She could have said anything in the world to me, but if she would have said, ‘Son, you just disappointed me,’ That would have killed me. It would have killed me.” 

AUDIO: Darius Rucker says the best thing he can give his wife on Mother’s Day is his time…and to take the kids off her hands for a little while.

Darius Rucker (wife on Mother’s Day) OC: …try to do. :20
“I think the best Mother’s Day gift my wife would say I’ve given her is to let her not have to deal with her kids. [laughs] But, I’m not really a good gift-giver. I’m not gonna lie. And my wife and I have a deal that if you want it, just get it, so when it’s time to buy gifts, it’s hard to do. But, I think my time is the best thing I can give to my family, because I’m on the road so much. So, that’s what I try to do.”

Audio / Dierks Bentley (Mother's Day)

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AUDIO: Dierks Bentley talks about Mother’s Day in regards to his wife, Cassidy.

Dierks (Mother’s Day) OC: …something great. :23
“When it’s your actual mom, you know, there’s some slack there, but when with your wife – any touring husband, anyone who tours who has kids and a wife back home, it’s tough man. It’s a lot of work. So, I definitely need to step up to think of something great to do this Sunday, for sure. But nothing yet. As usual, I’ll probably get something last minute and hopefully, it’ll be great, though. She deserves something great.”

Audio / Eric Church (Mother's Day)

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AUDIO: Eric Church says he’s learned quite a bit from his mom.

Eric Church (Mother’s Day) OC: …as a man. :57
“My mom, even though my dad won’t like this, my mom is by far the toughest person that I’ve met. She’s tough. One of those people that’s been through a lot in her life, adversity wise and never complains, always really resilient with anything that’s happened to her. And it’s just that attitude, the positive attitude, regardless of what has happened that I think is the one thing that I got from her. With career, she’s always been a person that’s been really positive through times that I couldn’t find a positive streak, [laughs] and she was always really positive, and very much believes in tough it out, keep working hard, and that’s her motto with stuff like that. I’ve always been impressed with that stuff. Then musically, she’s where I get my talent from, musically. She sings great, always has, her mom sang great. I owe my musical chops to her. And she still sings some. So, career-wise, I owe her everything. And just in life-wise she’s given me a lot of the qualities that it has taken for me to get me where I am. Not only as a musician, but as a man.”

AUDIO: Eric Church, who probably was a little bit of a handful when he was a kid, says he probably has a lot to apologize to his mother for when he was younger.

Eric Church (apology to mom) OC: …I’m sorry. [laughs] :15
“Probably too much [laughs]. If I’ve gotten away with it this long I’m not about to…I’m not letting it out now I’ve made it. The guilt is even gone now, I’m good [laughs]. So probably, but I’m not going to admit any of it. I’ll say I’m sorry, just blanket I’m sorry [laughs].”

AUDIO: Eric Paslay thanks his mother for many things, including her faith, sense of humor and her joy of life.

Eric Paslay (Mother’s Day) OC: …it’s good. :21
“I wanna thank my mom for giving me faith, laughter and pride in the family I came from. She’d be the fun Mom, just goofing off in the sprinklers outside or we’d go out and play in the rain and all that stuff growing up. She’s always good to be around; always happy, and it’s good.”

AUDIO: Keith Urban explains why his wife Nicole Kidman is an extraordinary mother to their two children, Sunday and Faith.

Keith Urban (Nicole is extraordinary mother) OC: …to see. :45
“She’s an extraordinary mum, she really, really is. Those girls are very, very lucky, and I feel very lucky that the children I should have in this world happen to be with Nic. I don’t know anything about raising kids and Nic does, and that comes in extremely, um, it’s really made for an experience I wouldn’t have had without that. Her patience, her recognizing them as people and not just little kids is really extraordinary. Her attention to honoring their feelings and listening to them right from day one – really being attentive to that is not how I was raised at all, so it’s really beautiful to see.”

AUDIO: With Mother’s Day on Sunday, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley explains he and his brother, Josh, owe their mother a lot for all of their childhood antics.

Lady Antebellum (Charles Kelley-Mother) OC: …playing music. :23
“We were honestly, at times, pretty hard to handle, both of us. We used to play our music loud up above on the second floor [of the house], bang on the drums and the guitar. And my mom’s just one of those people, she’ll do anything for her family and she sacrificed a lot for us boys. Anytime we needed something, she made it happen. And so, we owe her a lot. She’s definitely the reason we’re playing music.”

AUDIO: Lauren Alaina says she can count on her mom for just about everything.

Lauren Alaina (Mother’s Day) OC: …same for her. :19
“I honestly would not be able to do it without my mom. I get overwhelmed sometimes, and if she wasn’t there to comfort me or tell me, ‘Look just realize what you’ve got going for you,’ I’d be up the creek [without a paddle]. She’s got my back. My mom would walk through a fire pit for me, and I’d do the same for her.”

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman says she always dreamed of being a mother…and her dream came true a few years ago when she gave birth to her daughter, Daisy.

LBT (Mother’s Day) OC: …for my mother. :34
“Being a mother is a life-long dream for me. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be is a mama. It took a long time. I wasn’t ever sure that I would be, but I am now, and it’s the greatest gift of my life. And as I’m a mother now, I see what my mother gave up and her sacrifices and her love and how she made us the most important thing in her life, and that’s what I strive to do for my little girl. It’s the most important job I have, and it’s the most responsibility that I have, and I try to live up to a great example that I had for my mother.”

AUDIO: Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild says being a mother to Elijah Dylan Westbrook is the best feeling in the world.

LBT (Mother’s Day-Karen) OC: …every day. :23
“There isn’t anything that means more to me than sitting on the bench and eating a grilled cheese sandwich with this little guy who calls me Mama. There isn’t anything better than that. He’s just a little miracle. I went from dreaming about him to eating grilled cheese sandwiches and ketchup with him, and I could never have dreamed this up – how good it could be, and it just gets better every day.”

AUDIO: Shania Twain says it’s such a joy to be a parent.

Shania Twain (joy to be a parent) OC: …means everything. :14
“It’s such a joy to be a parent. So, I relate to all the mums out there who are getting all their love and appreciation from their kids, and I hope, when you’re a kid, a child of somebody, show your mum you love her, because it means everything.”