The country singer welcomed his first baby, a son named Major Yancey Tyler McCollum, with his wife, Hallie Ray Light, on Thursday. The couple shared the happy news in a joint Instagram carousel on Friday.
“Major Yancey Tyler McCollum,” the post read. “8/8/24 💙💙💙.”
In the first two photographs, McCollum and Light wear baby blue in honor of their newborn boy, who is also wrapped in pastel blue and wearing a white beanie with a scalloped blue trim. The new parents smile in a hospital bed while cradling Major. In other photos, the baby rocks a different blue beanie and a white outfit with “Major” embroidered on the chest in light blue. In the final two pictures, the family is joined by their dog while back home.
Just days before Light gave birth, McCollum spoke to ET on the Toby Keith: American Icon red carpet about accidentally spilling the beans on his son’s name in a previous interview with The Spencer Graves Show, when he wasn’t aware they were recording.
“I got in a bunch of trouble when I got home last week. I didn’t know that interview had started. I did not- I was not aware that they were recording that,” he told ET. “And um I got a swift kick in the butt when I got home for spilling the beans on that, so much so that I don’t think that’s gonna be his name now. I don’t think she likes it now that everybody knows it.”
McCollum then explained how football inspired the name Major.
“I was watching Rose Bowl highlights back when University of Texas was in the Rose Bowl and Major Applewhite lays that dude out on the sidelines and I just thought Major McCollum would be a cool name,” he continued. “But me spilling the beans early I think has uh kind of removed that one from the list but we’ll see.”
It seems like Light wasn’t too upset because they kept the name!
McCollum also spoke to ET about his excitement over his son’s arrival.
“I’m just ready for the birth to be over. It’s like there’s been this buildup and all this anticipation and all of this, you know, and we got bottles and diapers and a thousand onesies and cribs and rockers and baby camera, I mean you- I didn’t even know they made that much stuff for babies,” he joked. “But we got it all so uh I’m just excited to finally get to use it. It’s been sittin there for a long time.”
Hallie Ray Light and Parker McCollum. – Jason Kempin/Getty Images
McCollum and Light announced that they were expecting their first baby together in February. At the time, they shared a sweet picture in a joint Instagram post, in which they stood together by the ocean at sunset, with McCollum leaning down to kiss his pregnant wife as she cradled her belly.
“God’s little blessing. We Iove you so much already, Baby M!” they captioned their post.
The couple wed in Tomball, Texas, in March 2022. Ahead of their wedding that month, McCollum gushed to ET about his then-fiancée.
“The best version of me comes out when I’ve got her around, so she won’t be going anywhere,” he shared.
