Harry Connick Jr's Daughters Grew Up To Be Gorgeous

Singer, actor, composer and talk show host Harry Connick Jr. and his wife, former Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre, have been married for 27 years, and have raised three daughters together. Though the family has spent a fair amount of time in Connick Jr.'s home town of New Orleans, Louisiana, the girls grew up primarily in New Canaan, Connecticut (per Wide Open Country). "I married my best friend and I married a woman who I look up to infinitely," Connick Jr. told Us. "We have the same values so it's easy for us to try and impart those on our children."

The couple's daughters are all thriving young adults now. Georgia, the eldest, was born in 1996 and is a film maker; middle daughter Sarah Kate, who goes by "Kate," was born in 1997 and is a model and fashion designer; and youngest Charlotte, was born in 2002 and is a college student. The family is extremely close and enjoys spending time together. All five appeared on an episode of Connick Jr.'s talk show "Harry," and Kate shared how much she enjoys the fun chaos that ensues on a family evening out. 

"My favorite thing is when we all go out to dinner and we all have to kind of hold it together and be a little bit more tame, because we're really bad at that – like something always happens. There's always some commotion at some point." Goodacre concurred that "[there is] a lot of laughter." 

The Connick sisters have been exposed to music their entire lives. As Kate Connick shared on "Harry," "Our household's a lot of fun. I mean there's music playing all the time...there's piano." Dad and top recording artist Harry Connick Jr. hails from New Orleans, and still has lots of family there. This meant that the Connick sisters spent lots of time in the city over the years. Connick Jr.'s musical pedigree also came with the opportunity for his family to see some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world perform (per Conway Confidential).

Harry Connick Jr.'s appearances on Broadway in shows like "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and "The Pajama Game," along with his stint as a judge on "American Idol," certainly gave the couple's daughters incredible exposure to many musical genres and top musicians. For example, when she was just six years old, middle daughter Kate expressed an interest in learning to play the trumpet. For Connick Jr., that simply meant calling up pal Wynton Marsalis to give her some pointers. Connick Jr. says that though Kate spent some time with the famed trumpeter, "She had no idea she was being taught by one of the greatest musicians who ever lived."

Harry Connick Jr. has spoken repeatedly about how much he treasures his relationship with wife Jill Goodacre. He once told Fox News, "I love being around her, I respect her infinitely, and I admire her so much. She's a hero of mine. We just take it day to day, and you know, count our blessings really." His daughters clearly have similar feelings for their mom, as evidenced by a story that Connick Jr. shared with Good Housekeeping in 2007 — a time when his daughters were much younger. 

The story focused on wife Jill Goodacre's recent birthday and his request of the girls to do something special for her in order to commemorate it. He describes a scene where Goodacre arrived at home and found dozens of little artworks that the three girls had created in their mom's honor. One of their collaborations was particularly touching: It featured outlines of their hands with the accompanying phrase, "When you put your hand on this, it will be like we're holding hands." Both mom and dad were taken aback by the thoughtful and meaningful effort their daughters had put into the project.

When it comes to singing, Harry Connick Jr. isn't the only one in the family with a set of pipes. Daughter Kate Connick has performed with her dad on several occasions, including on "The Ellen Show," where she sang a song called "A Lot Like Me," written by her dad. Kate recorded the song when she was 13 years old, and it was released along with the introduction of two new "American Girl" historic character dolls in an effort to raise money for the Ellis Marsalis Music Center in New Orleans after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. 

"My dad has told me how we needed to get all the musicians back together [after Hurricane Katrina]. We've got to keep the music going to help New Orleans. When I found out that I'd be able to help, I wanted to have a part in it," Kate explained. In the clip, Kate sings lead vocals as her dad accompanies her on the piano and beams with pride in the background. According to her artist's bio on MarsalisMusic.Com, Kate also sang along with her dad on his 2008 Christmas album.

In 2012, Jill Goodacre received a breast cancer diagnosis. After two surgeries, radiation treatment, and five years of medication, she was declared clear of disease and began to share her story. She told People that telling her three young daughters was heartbreaking, and was one of the hardest parts of receiving the diagnosis. Several years later, the entire family would join dad/husband Harry Connick Jr. on his talk show "Harry" to reflect on how it had affected each of them. 

Front and center for the interview were the couple's three daughters, who shared their personal memories of the frightening time. Eldest daughter Georgia said that she had virtually blocked out the memory of being told about the diagnosis, and likened it to a nightmare. Middle daughter Kate talked about how the family had decided to keep it very private, and that it had been difficult to be around people without being able to share what she was going through. Youngest sister Charlotte looked back on the period as the hardest time of her life. Their lives were rocked by the incident, and they are extremely grateful that Goodacre was able to come out the other side in good health.

Connick Jr. summed up his thoughts to Parade several years later: "If we have our health, we need to take a step back and realize the ability to do our work and live our lives is an incredible gift."

Harry Connick Jr.'s eldest daughter Georgia Connick has worked with her dad on a few occasions, including on his talk show, "Harry." 

Georgia, who is a filmmaker, editor and director, joined her sisters and both parents on an episode where she talked about how much she was enjoying the experience. "He does everything for everybody else..He doesn't care about any...anything done for himself," she said about her dad. "You deserve the world and I mean..I love working here. It's truly an honor," she said to Connick Jr., who appeared to be deeply moved by her comments. 

Georgia recently sat down with Paul Leslie to talk about growing up in a household surrounded by art, music and creativity. She shared that she had been filming and editing since she was 10 years old, and that she particularly cherished making two music videos with her father during the pandemic. She spoke about shooting "Amazing Grace" in an abandoned opera house that had fascinated her, and braving the snowy weather together for his "Alone With My Faith" video. "My family is my rock," said the young director, who stated that her ultimate goal is to travel the world and do documentary work.   

"You're in the driver's seat as a parent and as unwilling at times as they may be, or I may be to communicate, I think communication is key. I think you need to pick and choose your times, and this goes for me as much as them." is how Harry Connick Jr. described his parenting style to Risen Magazine. He also told People a few years back that, unlike most parents whose kids expressed embarrassment about being with their parents at times, he and Goodacre had never gone through that phase with their three daughters. 

Connick Jr. said that when his girls were younger, he had tried to raise them in a gender-free fashion, and enjoyed taking them to get their nails done as much as he liked playing ball with them (per Good Housekeeping). When Goodacre and their three daughters joined Connick Jr. on an episode of "Harry," eldest daughter Georgia described her dad as her best friend, and middle daughter Kate confirmed the sentiment. Kate also added that she could expect her dad to pick up the phone no matter the hour, and that she could talk to him about anything. 

The Connick sisters are an extremely close bunch. Not only do they all have great relationships with their famous parents, but they are also very close to each other. They show up regularly on each other's Instagram pages when they attend events together and in appreciation posts on special occasions like birthdays. Harry Connick Jr. told People in a recent interview that he had enjoyed every phase of parenting his daughters and that fatherhood "just keeps getting better." 

Now that Georgia, Kate, and Charlotte are older, he cherishes the fact that they can adjust their schedules to be with him. He told People that as a family, they enjoy everyday activities like going to the movies, cooking, and hanging out at the beach. He summed up their tight knit relationships by saying, "We love being together, so the more we can actually spend time together, the better."  

Kate, who moved back home along with her sister Georgia during the pandemic, told New Canaan Magazine, "I was a little worried at first about how things would go being back home, but we are the closest family I've ever met, so I knew it would be ok."

On an episode of "The Ellen Show," Harry Connick Jr. eschewed the outdated concept of a father having to watch over his daughters' dating life with a shotgun. He felt that this was an antiquated attitude that took the position that young women can't make good decisions for themselves when it comes to finding a good partner. "The way I raise my daughters and Jill – the way we raise our kids – hopefully they will have enough self-esteem so that they'll be able to attract guys of a certain caliber." 

Connick Jr. prides himself and wife Jill Goodacre for having instilled their three daughters with self-worth that will result in very high standards when it comes to choosing partners. He told People, "The way we raised them was to, to see these, these men, these potential partners through a very small window."

It should come as no surprise that Harry Connick Jr.'s youngest daughter Charlotte has some serious skills when it comes to performing. She is featured in some recent posts on Connick Jr.'s social media accounts that have the dad/daughter duo engaging in some funny antics together. 

In a recent Facebook post, he played the piano as Charlotte did an impression of her dad's singing. He captioned the post, "charlotte thinks i have a strong louisiana accent. this is her impression of me. she takes this very seriously." In the clip, Connick Jr. tries desperately to keep it together as his daughter does a hilarious impersonation of her dad's southern twang while singing.

Meanwhile, a recent post on Instagram showed the pair up to some more shenanigans. In the video, Charlotte flawlessly lip syncs all of the lyrics to a sped-up version of Young MC's "Bust A Move" as Connick Jr. provides "back-up." Once again, Charlotte is perfectly straight-faced until the very end, when they both burst out laughing. The performances are clearly indicative of how much they enjoy spending time together.

Kate Connick graduated high school and headed to college in South Carolina to play lacrosse. After getting injured, however, she headed to New York City to attend NYU and pursue her dreams of conquering the fashion world (per New Canaan Magazine). 

Not only does she work as a model, but she also has her own fashion line that has grown since the onset of the pandemic. Kate Connick Clothing is an eco-friendly company that is focused on confidence and comfort (per New York Lifestyles). 

Connick, who says that her fashion sense is definitely inspired by her mom Jill Goodacre (a former Victoria's Secret model), originally started her company with pieces that had a dressier vibe. The onset of the pandemic, however, inspired her to move more quickly toward her goal of designing lounge wear. Currently, her clothing, which is made in the United States, can be found in several boutiques near where she lives and even at a resort in Ireland. She hopes to continue on her fashion journey as she nurtures her acting and modeling careers.  

During the pandemic, Harry Connick Jr. needed to stay active, so he and daughter Georgia, a filmmaker, hit the road in an RV and set off to interview essential workers. "I just want to reach out and meet some of these folks, sanitation workers or elementary school teachers or people that are working at food banks," he said. "These are the people that are keeping the supply chain going and keeping our lives going" (per Billboard).

The project was called "United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute to the Unsung Heroes," and it aired in conjunction with Grammy programming in 2020. In addition to honoring essential workers, the special featured several movie stars and musical performances by top artists. One of the goals of the project was to raise money for several causes. Georgia expressed how moving it was to watch the frontline workers do their jobs under such harrowing circumstances. "Watching these people do their everyday jobs, not necessarily thinking they're heroes, but everyone else thinking they are heroes, is very incredible," she said.  

Charlotte Connick is the youngest of the Connick sisters. Not surprisingly, she is also extremely talented and creative. In addition to sharing her amusing musical stylings with the world via her father's social media accounts, she is currently enrolled at Savannah College of Art and Design. In what appears to be a fairly new Instagram account, Charlotte has already shared lots of family photos, outings with college pals, modeling pics, and some of her own artistic creations. 

The art she's shared so far ranges from an abstract drawing of a hand to a bright watercolor painting done during a picnic to a mixed media piece that features a skull. In her bio, she says that she's a self taught make-up designer/artist. Though she's just at the start of her college and creative journey, Charlotte clearly has talent in several disciplines. If her parents and sisters are any indication, she will no doubt be blazing her own trail creatively for the foreseeable future.