Scotty McCreery had a backstage fan for his Grand Ole Opry performance over the holidays. In an Instagram post shared on January 5, he showed a video of himself walking to the stage wearing a red leather jacket and dark blue jeans.
Prior to his set, McCreery’s son, Avery, walked over and gave him a high five. “Avery high fives are always necessary,” the “American Idol” winner wrote.
A fan replied, “I think Avery is after The Tour Manager job watch out Nathan !! He is the biggest cheerleader for Daddy and the guys …Well done Avery ..Good job.”
McCreery was part of the Christmas special at the iconic Nashville, Tennessee venue, where he performed “Feel Like The Holidays.”
“You could sing anything and I would listen. What a pleasure to watch you perform,” a fan commented on McCreery’s Instagram post.
McCreery Opened Up About Being a Dad While Touring
McCreery welcomed Avery with his wife, Gabi Dugal, in October 2022, and he didn’t stop his life on the road.
Just four months later, he was back to touring and told Audacy, “Everything is an adjustment. There’s diapers everywhere, there’s bottles everywhere, toys are being thrown around, [I’m] steppin’ on little Legos or whatever.”
He added, “But for me, the craziest thing is like, we’re on the Brooks & Dunn [tour] with 17 to 20,000 people every night [and] I get done singing — its great and everything, people are yelling’ — then it’s like immediately you get back to the bus, warm a bottle turn the lights off, sound machine on, get the baby ready for bed immediately.”
The “Damn Strait” singer shared that Dugal having been a pediatric nurse helped immensely, and he just looks to her for guidance. “I’m just following the leader,” he quipped.
McCreery Is ‘Loving Life’ As a Dad of Two
McCreery officially became a dad of two boys on September 18, 2025, when he and Dugal welcomed Oliver Cooke.
In a sweet Instagram post shared in November 2025, McCreery is seen holding his infant son with Avery and Dugal beside him. “Loving life with baby Oliver and the fam,” the country singer captioned.
A fan replied, “So sweet. You are making the best life-long memories.” Another gushed, “Scotty — You have a Beautiful family! The love you show for your family shows in everything you do! So very happy for you and Gabi. Your boys are so very precious, they are gifts given to you and Gabi.”
Ahead of Oliver’s birth, McCreery opened up to Music Mayhem about incorporating fatherhood into his music.
“I’ve always been an open book about my life and my family and my faith, my friends, everything. I’m happy to just talk about life, and I think writing for me, I’ve always written from the heart,” he said.
The “American Idol” alum continued, “Fatherhood, it’s like that’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. So how could you not write songs? Just sitting there looking at him, and Gabi was like, man, I’ve known love but not like this. So I was taking pictures of the room number he was in so I could put it in the song and all sorts of stuff.”
