© 2026 ABC News

\"I don’t know if we ever truly will be able to forgive ourselves. I pray that we can. I hope we can,\" Amber Smith added.

Granger Smith said that the experience of losing a child and the grief that ensued have been transformative for him, both as a person and as a songwriter.

Fans can already hear that shift in his latest release, \"That’s Why I Love Dirt Roads,\" and it’ll continue to be present in his next musical project, which is due out in September.

\"There is a lot of feeling from him in this album,\" the singer acknowledged, though he says there won’t be many direct references to River in the project.

The singer said that through his grief journey he has \"truly shed layers.\"

\"I feel wiser. I feel more in tune spiritually,\" he explained. \"I feel more aware of our present moment and the value in the present moment, the value in the current breath that we have.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/granger-smith-guilt-forgiving-year-son-rivers-death/story?id=71558686","legacySlug":"/culture/story/granger-smith-guilt-forgiving-year-son-rivers-death-71558686","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"18:51","publishDate":"07-01-2020","updatedTime":"19:15","updatedDate":"07-01-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Granger Smith at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, Oct. 26, 2019, in Las Vegas.","credit":"Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/granger-smith-file-gty-jef-200701_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"7/1/2020 18:51:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":71558686,"headline":"Granger Smith talks life year after son's death","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA GRANGER SMITH SON'S DEATH ANNIVERSARY","description":"He spoke about life a year after his son died from a drowning accident. ","duration":"2:35","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/06/190620_gma_baby_0819_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["63537441","62583982","63239314"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"June 6, 2019","headline":"Country singer delivers tragic news of 3-year-old son's death","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/country-singer-granger-smith-delivers-tragic-news-year-63537441","id":63537441,"image":{"alt":"Country singer delivers tragic news of 3-year-old son's death","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/granger-smith-gty-jpo-190606_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Rick Diamond/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"April 23, 2019","headline":"Bode and Morgan Miller teach infant son to swim after drowning death of daughter","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/bode-morgan-miller-teach-month-swim-drowning-death-62583982","id":62583982,"image":{"alt":"Bode and Morgan Miller teach infant son to swim after drowning death of daughter","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/bode-miller-morgan-beck-gty-jc-180620_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Stephen J. Cohen/WireImage/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"May 23, 2019","headline":"Morgan Miller reflects on the drowning death of her daughter","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/morgan-miller-reflects-drowning-death-daughter-63239314","id":63239314,"image":{"alt":"Morgan Miller reflects on the drowning death of her daughter","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/bode-miller-morgan-beck-gty-jc-180620_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Stephen J. Cohen/WireImage/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Granger Smith talks life year after son's death","description":"He spoke about life a year after his son died from a drowning accident. ","duration":"2:35","uploadDate":"07-01-2020","publication":"07-01-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/06/190620_gma_baby_0819_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/06/190620_gma_baby_0819_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/granger-smith-guilt-forgiving-year-son-rivers-death-71558686"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Granger Smith talks life year after son's death","pubTime":"14:51","pubDate":"07-01-2020","modTime":"15:15","modDate":"07-01-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":71558686,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Granger Smith talks life year after son's death","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA GRANGER SMITH SON'S DEATH ANNIVERSARY","videoId":71558686,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/granger-smith-guilt-forgiving-year-son-rivers-death-71558686"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/71558686","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/71558686","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};