How Many Kids Does Thomas Rhett Have?
Thomas Rhett is one of country music’s biggest stars. The son of fellow country singer Rhett Akins, he got his start writing songs for other country artists like Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line. He signed a record deal of his own and released his first single in 2012. Since then, he’s recorded four chart-topping albums and released a long list of hit songs. But off the stage and away from the microphone, he’s a dedicated family man.
Rhett and his wife were high school sweethearts
Rhett and his wife, Lauren Akins, grew up going to the same schools and church. They dated for a short time in high school, but like many teenage relationships, it didn’t last.
“We dated once when we were 15, and it didn’t work out,” Rhett told Taste of Country, “We dated for like six months. We remained best friends even after we broke up. We both dated other people for like five years. When I heard that she had ended her other relationship … I moved in for the kill. We kissed, and that was it.”
The pair wed in 2012. Rhett penned one of his biggest hits, “Die a Happy Man,” about his wife in 2015, and she also starred in the music video.
Girl Dad
The couple struggled to get pregnant and began considering adoption. In April 2016, Akins was in Uganda, working with the charity 147 Million Orphans. At a children’s home there, she met an orphan, nicknamed Blessing, that would change their lives forever.
“She was a total orphan and didn’t have any biological relatives, no one,” Akins revealed to People. “Her life was going to be at the children’s home unless someone else tried to give her a home. So I thought, ‘We need to find her a home.’ I thought we’d be the helpers — and then Thomas Rhett said, ‘We’ll do it!'”
It took a full year to finalize the adoption, which included multiple trips to Uganda to navigate the country’s complicated laws. In the middle of the process, the couple discovered, to their surprise, that Akins was pregnant with their first child. Willa Gray finally arrived in Nashville on May 11, 2017. Just three months later, on August 12, the couple welcomed Ada James. The couple named both daughters after family members, according to Southern Living. Willa is named after Rhett’s grandfather, Willard, and Akin’s brother, Grayson. They decided on “Ada” because it meant happy and was also Akin’s grandmother’s name. “James” is a family name on both sides. Willa is now 5, and Ada is 3.
His daughters’ arrival inspired Rhett to write his chart-topping song, “Life Changes” and they also appear in the music video.
Family of five
Earlier this year, the Rhett family grew again. “Excited to share that I will now be paying for 3 weddings,” Rhett quipped, announcing the happy news on his Instagram last July. Akins gave birth to Lennon Love on February 10. Since then, Rhett has been enjoying time off the road, spending quality time with his new family of five during quarantine.
“I think when next summer rolls around and we get back on the road it’s going to be really tough to leave,” he said in an interview with Country Living. “I think my kids got so used to me being dad on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and not on the weekends and so now that I’m here 24/7 during the week they’re gonna be like, ‘What? You work? You have a job?’ and so it’ll be different.”
Are there more kids in the Rhett family’s future? “Lauren wants to have five kids before she turns 34. That is her plan,” Rhett told Access Online. “She’s the boss.”
