Country Singer Brantley Gilbert Talks About How He Almost Lost His Girlfriend

Country singer Brantley Gilbert has every reason to celebrate. His album “Just As I Am” reached the No. 1 spot on iTunes' Top Country Chart and has also hit No. 8 in the All-Genre rankings. The 30-year-old now plans to marry longtime girlfriend Amber Cochran.

The “Bottoms Up” singer has called Cochran "the one that almost got away." The couple have known each other for 10 years and have been in an unstable relationship for the past five years. They never planned to spend their lives together. But as fate would have wanted, the two are now planning a “not so big wedding.”

The Georgia-born singer told E! News that he almost lost Cochran as "he was making some decisions and running with some folks, and living in a way she wasn't going to be a part of." But he acted before it got too late for him. For Gilbert, losing her girlfriend was a “straight downhill jolt at first." "That's one of the things that really made it hit home, like, 'Hey, man, we really got an issue here,'" said the singer.

It was during this difficult time that he was inspired to write his now hit song “Just As I Am.” The singer penned it when he was returning home one night and saw a chapel. He felt that he had some spiritual encounter with God. For him the songwriting was a cathartic experience and he felt “victorious” after he vented his feelings on paper.

Gilbert is a firm believer in love and nows want to spend the rest of his life with Cochran. He is going to invite very few people to his wedding, which will be soon. The two are not spending much time with each other because of his work commitments but that does not mean the two are out of touch. "She's been in my soul since I met her," said the singer. The singer is currently on a motorcycle ride with “Harley Davidson and the Wounded Warrior Project” to celebrate the success of his album.