Zach Bryan has kept a promise he made to his mother before her death, and has earned his Bachelor’s degree while writing and recording music, in addition to touring across the country.

Bryan revealed his accomplishment on X, saying he took classes while on the road: “Got my bachelors yesterday after exams in the desert and green rooms to about a hundred different venues. No arrogance attached just a promise I made my mom a long while back. Bound to be a good week guys.”

Bryan’s mom Annette passed away in August 2016 at the age of 49; in a profile with The New York Times released in 2022, Bryan shared his mother’s struggle with alcohol use: “I think my mom dying really solidified the darkness in life to me. It opened that thing in you that’s like, ‘Hey, be a man now.’ People say I repress, and I’m like, no, the person that I want to tell all this stuff to is dead. And you don’t deserve me weighing in on my feelings to you.” His mom’s struggles also influenced the area of study he chose, psychology: “I just wanted to figure out why my mom was the way she was, you know? Like the most beautiful lady of all time and also kind of tortured herself.”

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