Now that the holidays are here, many people are taking time to spend with their family — and Pam Tillis will be doing the same, but she will also be honoring her parents who unfortunately won’t be around.

“This is two years in a row I’ve lost a parent,” the country singer, 62, exclusively told Closer Weekly at the 2019 CMAs on Wednesday, November 13. ” I’ve lost them in November. So it’s going to be a very interesting Thanksgiving — and the plan as us kids are to throw down like they would have. And try to cook as close to mom as we can get and celebrate them and all the love and nurture that they gave us.”

The hitmaker was born to Mel and Doris Tillis in 1957. She was not the only child though, as she also has five siblings — sisters Hannah, Cindy, and Carrie, and brothers Mel Jr. and Connie.

Pam Tillis
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

“We’ll set a place for both of them and just try to make them proud with the way that we’re all trying to stick together because a lot of families sometimes drift apart,” Pam continued. “And we made a pact that we have to stand together.” It is quite clear that Pam was close with her folks — they even had a part in helping her fall in love with country music.

“When I was a little girl, I remember my daddy putting me in his guitar case for a nap,” the songwriter exclusively told Closer Weekly. “I was surrounded by music from when I was in my cradle. How much was DNA and how much was environment, I can’t tell ya, but there was never anything else I thought about doing.”

Pam Tillis Mel Tillis
Michael S Green/AP/Shutterstock

Pam — whose dad was also in the industry — added about her father, “He’s gone, but he’s in no way forgotten. He was a light in the world, and that’s a great legacy.” It is so incredible to hear just how Pam and her siblings continue to keep their parents’ memory alive.

For more on your favorite celebs, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for more exclusive news!