Tanya Tucker's 3 Children: Everything You Need to Know About Presley, Grayson, and Layla
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- UPDATED JULY 30, 2024
by Tasha Mayberry
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Tanya Tucker may be a country music icon, but her crowning achievement is being the proud mom of three children: Presley, Grayson, and Layla. The “Delta Dawn” singer became a mama for the first time in 1989 when she welcomed daughter Presley with actor Ben Reed. They added their son Beau, better known by his middle name Grayson, to the family in 1991 before going their separate ways. Tanya completed her family in 1999 when she gave birth to her youngest child, daughter Layla, with songwriter Jerry Laseter. Though the Country Music Hall of Famer never married and didn’t have a traditional family structure for her kids, she had “the most incredible parents” as a blueprint for how to care for them.
Best things I ever did!!! My three youngins, Presley Tanita, Beau Grayson, and Layla LaCosta,” she wrote on Facebook in 2020. So grateful and proud to be their Momma.” In 2005, the children joined their mom for a reality show featuring her life called “Tuckerville” — and that was only their first foray into the limelight. All three of the “Bring My Flowers Now” artist’s kids have followed in her footsteps into the music industry and have been by her side over the years, including at the 2023 CMT Smashing Glass event honoring her. Here’s everything to know about Tanya Tucker’s children: Presley, Grayson, and Layla.
Presley Tanita Tucker, 35
Tanya became a mom for the first time on July 5, 1989, when she welcomed her first child, Presley Tanita Tucker, with Reed. “Around 1:17 pm I had a 6.7 lb bundle of heaven at Vanderbilt in Nashville,” the singer shared in a sweet post for Presley’s 35th birthday in 2024. “She was the answer to my dream and I named her long before her arrival. She was so beautiful I really couldn’t believe she was mine.” Tanya recalled that her career was soaring, and the only thing missing in her life was a baby.
What an entrance she made!” she continued. “Not just a beautiful face, she was a perfect child so much so I felt I was the blessed one!!! God knew what I needed. And it was her.” When asked what it was like growing up with Tanya as a mom, Presley told the “Children of Song” podcast it was “a lot of fun — never a dull moment.” While she enjoyed being on the road with her mom “as much as possible,” she also went to “normal school.”
Beau Grayson Tucker, 32
Tanya and Reed’s second child, Beau Grayson Tucker, was born on Oct. 2, 1991. She named her bundle of joy after her beloved father and longtime manager, Beau Tucker, but her son uses his middle name professionally. “The night before I went to the hospital I talked to Clint Black and I still haven’t figured out how this happened, but I told him that I was naming my son Beau Grayson, after my dad,” Tanya recalled in a Facebook post for Grayson’s birthday in 2020. “I didn’t think that it would get out.
However, Black turned out to be the announcer for female vocalist of the year at the CMAs one night later, and he spilled the beans about the name when she won the award. “My dad just about fell off of the couch when he was watching the show because nobody knew I was naming him Beau Grayson, after my dad,” Tanya recalled. “It was a really special time, the only time I’ve ever won female vocalist of the year. I couldn’t be there, but it was all worth it.
Layla LaCosta Laseter, 25
Tanya and Laseter welcomed their first and only child together, Layla LaCosta Laseter, on June 25, 1999. “I’d give all the tomorrows that I could ever have for just one more moment when they laid her on my chest and she first looked at me and smiled. … She was just what I needed in my life,” Tanya recounted in a heartfelt birthday tribute in 2024. The little bundle of joy’s middle name was a nod to Tanya’s sister, LaCosta Tucker, who is also a performer.
Like her mom and aunt, Layla is a talented singer. “She was blessed with a beautiful voice and she was given the gift of songwriting (gotta be from Daddy Laseter),” Tanya added in her 2024 birthday post on Facebook. “I’m hoping the world will be able to hear her voice across global radio airwaves.” As a testament to her belief in her youngest kid’s talent, Tanya had her daughter open for her concert at The Ryman in Nashville in 2023. Layla has also released several singles, including “Misery and Gin” in 2022, and “Stay,” “Moonshine,” and “My Heart Wins Again” in 2023.
Decades After Tumultuous Glen Campbell Romance, Tanya Tucker Thinks She's Found the One: 'If It Ain't Him, I'm Done
Country icon Tanya Tucker has spent a lifetime making headlines for being unlucky in love. But now she’s determined to put an end to all that, and she has good reason: a ruggedly handsome singer-songwriter named Craig Dillingham whom she’s been dating since last summer. And if it is him, it’s been a long time coming. Both native Texans, the two first met 48 years ago at a Fort Worth, Texas, radio station. At the time, they were both 13-year-old prodigies on parallel career paths: With a voice that sounded far older than her years, Tucker was making a splash with “Delta Dawn,” her first single that’s now her signature song. Dillingham already had years of experience singing in a family group, and he was striking out on his own, working as the opening act to future Hall of Famer Ray Price.