Dierks Bentley remembers his dad 10 years after his death: “Think about him every day”

Dierks Bentley is remembering his late father, Leon Bentley, this week on the 10-year anniversary of his death.

The singer paid tribute to his dad on social media with a special childhood memory, sharing some photos of Leon giving a young Dierks a sip of his beer. The second and third photos show Dierks’ reaction to the beer, with a big smile on his face.

“Funny how a good cold beer has always had the same effect on me!” Dierks joked in the caption, before offering some more serious reflections on his father. “Think about him every day. Find myself wanting a little more advice now than I wanted back then!”

In fact, it was Dierks’ dad who first introduced him to country music. “I remember him saying he liked that even if you didn’t know the song, if it was written right, you could still sing along and guess some of the words,” he said.

“Miss him, wish the kids could have had a little bit more time with Granddude,” Dierks said in the conclusion of his post. “Thanks for being a good dad…Dad!”

Leon died on June 1, 2012, at the age of 88 after a long illness. CMT reported that Dierks — who had already released several albums and achieved considerable country music success — shared the news with his fans in a tweet.

Dierks’ 2014 album Riser included some nods to his dad’s death, including the song “I Hold On,” which mentions the truck he used to drive to Nashville with his dad at the beginning of his career.