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HARDY simply can’t get enough of his daughter Rosie’s smile.
“I’m not kidding — she smiles all the time,” HARDY, 34, tells PEOPLE from his tour bus parked outside a venue in Arizona. “It’s incredible.”
It’s an ever-present smile that HARDY and his wife, Caleigh Ryan Hardy, often share on social media, but one that they still can’t quite place. “Sometimes we think it’s all me, and sometimes we think it’s all Caleigh,” HARDY says with a laugh. “I guess you could say it’s a little bit of both. It changes every day.”
It’s these abundant smiles and the growing personality of 4-month-old Rosie that has not only captured the heart of HARDY, but has also put the country rock star on a far different personal trajectory than ever before.
“It’s different now, especially with the baby being here,” says HARDY, who is currently out on the road on his JIM BOB Tour. “I don’t know what’s in store, but I know that I’m not going to be partying like I used to,” he laughs. “I mean, we’ve always had a very safe, fun vibe out here.”
It’s that safe and fun environment that the “Wait in the Truck” hitmaker hopes to raise little Rosie in as the years go by. “If you’re going to raise a kid on the road, I feel like a nice, fun environment is key,” says HARDY, who made his Grand Ole Opry debut back in April. “I’m excited for that very much. But yeah, it’s probably a good time just to chill with the partying a little bit. It’s time to grow up a little bit.”
Nevertheless, an occasional beer never hurt anyone. HARDY is currently partnering with Outlaw Light Beer on a nationwide activation that not only includes surprise giveaways, exclusive merch and VIP access to HARDY’s tour, but also the chance for fans to reveal a golden-ticket, limited-edition HARDY can sitting right there in their own case.
“It’s probably not even cool to say this anymore, but me having my own custom beer can wasn’t on my bingo card,” he admits with a laugh of his limited-edition HARDY can. “The buck that’s on there is a buck that I killed a couple of years ago, which I think is really cool. And then in the background are what I believe are Loblolly pines, which are just like where I come from in Mississippi. [The can] encompasses a lot of where I come from and who I’m now and everything in between.”
Courtesy of Outlaw Beer
Certainly, there is much about his current life that HARDY says he still can’t believe, but especially the mental health struggles he has found himself dealing with ever since being involved in a serious tour bus accident in October 2022.
“I’ve been working a lot of the kinks out,” admits HARDY, who opened up to fans about his severe anxiety last fall. “Not to get too in the weeds, but the trauma of constantly feeling like you’re in danger going through something like that is something you just have to sort through, through a lot of therapy and other things. It’s all about having the mindset of… ‘I’m safe and everything’s going to be okay.’ I’m so thankful for the work I’ve done.”
Certainly, the work has been worth it, as it has helped HARDY focus completely on being a dad. “I’ve done a lot of fun things, and I’ve partied in a lot of fun places and all that, but I’m completely and totally content with slowing down and being a dad,” he tells PEOPLE. “I’m fully there. I just feel like a dad now. I’m just down to slow down and settle into a new chapter in my life.”
Tanner Gallagher
HARDY told PEOPLE back in 2022 that he was hoping to someday be a father of four. Three years later and one baby down, is that still the plan?
“I mean, Rosie is the perfect child, and she literally doesn’t do anything wrong, but that could change if we have a little hellion for the next one!” admits HARDY when asked if he and Caleigh’s magic number has adjusted now that they’re parents. “So, four is still the plan as of right now. Hopefully we’ll have more than one little baby, and we’ll just keep going with this thing.”
