John Osborne Shares Unexpected Benefit of Being a First-Time Dad
John Osborne is opening up about the joys of being a father.
While speaking exclusively with Parade, the Grammy-winning country star revealed parenthood has "changed [him] immensely" after welcoming a set of twins this past March. Osborne—who is one half of the critically-acclaimed musical duo Brothers Osborne, whose self-titled new album dropped Sept. 15—shares son Arthur and daughter Maybelle with singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas.
And, according to the 41-year-old, watching after the 6-month-old babies has become his "favorite thing to do in the world," and he discovered an unexpected benefit to it.
"One of the most difficult things to do, for anybody, is to stay present, in the moment, in your skin...Especially with all the distractions we have," Osborne said, noting that social media can become all-consuming as an artist trying to get their name out there. "Before you know it, you're mindlessly doom-scrolling Instagram for 20 minutes, and it's just not good for your mental health."
"But when I'm hanging out with those kids, I don't even know where my phone is," he confessed. "I'm just staring at them, trying my best to make them laugh and when I make them laugh, it's like the world's greatest dopamine hit."
Elsewhere in our conversation, the new dad admitted that having kids also reminded him of just how little he needs in life. "When you're born, all you need to do is eat, go to the bathroom, sleep, be with people you love. And that's kind of it," he said, drawing similarities towards peoples' needs during their last chapter of life, which he believes is "kind of beautiful."
Life is made even more beautiful for Osborne, as he has a longtime partner in wife Silvas, who he said helps him stay present. "One of the best things about Lucie and I is that we're both musicians, we're both artists and if we have those moments where one of us is venting, we can actually understand and empathize," Osborne said of his lasting marriage in the industry. "But 99 percent of the time, we don't think about the industry at all."
But Osborne is certainly leaving behind a music legacy his children can be proud of, as, when topic pivoted to the album, titled Brothers Osborne, the artist noted that mental health is a key theme on the LP.
On what fans can expect from the new work, Osborne shared, "For those that know us and are familiar with our music, expect to hear a lot of things that we’ve never done before."
However, before loyal Brothers Osborne fans panic about a potential rebrand, Osborne assured us that the new music still keeps "one foot in the familiar," adding, "No matter how hard my brother and I try to sound like something else, we’ll always sound like ourselves."
Brothers Osborne is out and available for a listen now.
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