Halloween: Country Artists Share Their Memories, Traditions and More

Halloween falls on a Monday this year, but it’s still worthy of being celebrated. Whether it’s the costumes or the candy, we found several country stars who have fond memories of Halloweens in the past, or enjoy creating new traditions with their own families.

Reba McEntire

“The way we used to celebrate it when we were kids – we were out in the country; our nearest neighbor was a couple of miles away from us, so we’d get dressed up and put on lipstick or whatever we could,” McEntire remembered. “We didn’t have Halloween costumes, and we’d walk down in the dark to Mr. and Mrs. Winslet’s house, and she’d feed us cookies and milk and then we’d walk back up in the dark. But Alice, Susie and I weren’t attentive enough to realize that Pake wasn’t with us in the group, and Pake would get up on the road going to the house and crawl up in a tree and scare the crap out of us. So, that was my Halloween memories right there.”

Luke Bryan

“My tradition for Halloween is Caroline picks the outfit,” Bryan says. “I never know what I’m wearing. So that day, I’ll talk to the neighbors ‘cause I have a tractor back there and I’ll go get my tractor and get a big long trailer, and then I’ll run down to…a couple miles from the farm, we’ve got a big hay farmer that keeps hay and you run in there and pay him for his hay bales. And I’ll load the hay up and get the hayride ready and we’ll take all the kids behind the tractor and have a fun Halloween with all that.”

Thomas Rhett

“We go really hard on holidays,” Rhett tells BMLG. “If you were to come to our house today, you would see Halloween decorations inside and you would see a ton of Christmas lights already put up outside. So, we kind of get ready for multiple holidays at the same time. We’ve been watching Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown, and carving pumpkins and baking pumpkin seeds, and already got all the girls’ costumes ready to go. And so, we definitely love Halloween.”

Brett Young

I can say this about myself, I was a very nerdy little boy,” Young says. “I was obsessed with Superman and I would not let it go for, I mean, 15 years probably. To the point where I made my mom make me a new Superman costume three Halloweens in a row. The full tights, sprayed black into my hair, the curl, the whole thing. There’s no way that there was another costume ever that will top the Superman costumes that my mom made me in that three year stretch where I couldn’t get that one out of my head.“

Matt Stell

“One costume that sticks out to me from my childhood was I decided to go as Judge Lance Ito, who presided over the O.J. Simpson trials, as like a whatever-grader I was,” Stell recalls. “I don’t even know why I thought that would be a good idea, but my folks helped me execute it I guess. I wore like a graduation robe and carried a hammer.

Ryan Hurd

“I love Halloween,” Hurd admits. “When it comes to haunted houses, I am a ‘hard pass’ kind of person. And it’s not ’cause I’m a huge wimp, but maybe it’s ’cause I’m a huge wimp. Maren loves like scary movies and stuff, and I don’t mind scary movies, I just usually choose something different. My favorite scary movie ever is What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford. It’s absolutely terrifying cause it seems so real.”

Old Dominion’s Matt Ramsey

“I mostly didn’t dress up,” Ramsey says. “I mean I did when I was really little, and the only real costume I remember was like a hunchback guy. I was jealous of my brother’s Headless Horseman costume. They have costumes for that now that make you look headless, but back then they didn’t. It was a little annoying because you had to lead him everywhere. e committed to the bit! He had a vest that he just zipped up and it went up over his head, and he carried around a pumpkin and he couldn’t see a thing. He trick-or-treated the whole time blind, and I was jealous.”

Elle King

“My favorite Halloween costume that I’ve ever worn… we played VooDoo Fest in New Orleans,” she recounts. “And I hired a full team of hair and makeup people to come and turn myself and my band The Brethren into like 90-year-old people. So we did the entire, hour-long hot festival set. I walked out with a walker, it was probably one of my most favorite costumes I’ve ever done. It was so much fun.

Tim McGraw

“Well, we did a few things when the kids were growing up,” McGraw shares. “I was Captain Jack one year and I had a full-on like, a friend of mine from LA who does costuming for movies sent me a whole Captain Jack get up. So, I had the authentic sort of looking Captain Jack. And then one year we were George and Martha Washington, Faith and I. And the kids were all sort of colonial dressed little girls.”