Chris Daughtry Shares The Hardest Part About Grieving The Deaths Of His Mom And Daughter

Kelly Clarkson Show/YouTube

American Idol star Chris Daughtry suffered two devastating losses late last year….the death of his mom and the death of his step-daughter. In a recent interview with Kelly Clarkson, the singer opened up about how he has dealt with the losses.

Chris Daughtry has endured more than his fair share of heartache over the last year. In November, just before kicking off his tour, the singer’s mother lost her battle with cancer. Exactly one week later, his step-daughter Hannah Price died by suicide.

In a post made to social media at the time, Daughtry shared the news of the losses, saying, “I am still processing the last 24 hours. I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken. I just recently lost my mother to cancer but I was blessed with the chance to say goodbye and I was processing it privately. We never got to say goodbye to our precious Hannah and it’s another huge hit to our family.”

 

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In a statement issued in January following an investigation, the singer confirmed that Hannah’s death had been ruled a suicide.

“From a young age, Hannah struggled with mental illness and was in and out of therapy and treatment centers. As Hannah got older, she struggled to find her footing and began using drugs and often found herself in abusive relationships,” the statement read. “Just months after losing her biological father to suicide, Hannah was the victim of a crime and was shot in the face. We did everything we could to support her and get her the help she needed to recover from these tragedies and get her life back on track.”

According to the Daughtrys, Hannah had told them the morning of her death that she was in fear for her life after her boyfriend allegedly physically abused her. Police conducted a wellness check just after noon and found that Hannah was fine. Her boyfriend found her deceased that afternoon. Local authorities determined the cause of death as suicide while under the influence of narcotics and found no evidence of foul play.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday (June 23), Daughtry opened up about how he has grieved the deaths of his mom and daughter over the past eight months.

“I dealt with both very differently, processed both losses very differently…the hardest thing, the common denominator in both is the guilt. The ‘I wish I would have said this. I wish I would’ve done this. I wish I would’ve called more’…Those moments of the guilt is the hardest because you can’t do anything about it. There’s always going to be reminders of what you could’ve done or whatever, and I tend to beat myself up a lot over it.”

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls are confidential.