Explaining horrible events to children old enough to be aware that something catastrophic has occurred is extremely difficult. Country star Keith Urban was put in that gut-wrenching situation when his eldest daughter, Sunday Rose, noticed that her father was being unusually quiet on Monday morning.
“Our 9-year-old, as I was driving her to school this morning, said to me, ‘Dad, you seem quiet,” Urban shared with the crowd gathered at Nashville’s vigil to honor the Las Vegas victims. “I said, ‘Yeah, really there was a lot of people killed last night.’ And she said, ‘Did you know any of them?’ And I said, ‘Not that I know of.’ And then she said, ‘Well then why are you so sad?’ I said, ‘Well, first of all, these were innocent people, horrifically taken.”
The star went on to express why this senseless tragedy has completely broken the hearts of the tight-knit the country music community.
“They’re like family,” Urban said of the concertgoers killed and injured during the mass shooting. “It’s the one thing about country music that’s always been at the center of it, in that it is community. It’s about community. And so I did know those people, in that way, and it just really hit me.”
During his time at the vigil, Urban performed an emotional acoustic version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The event held at Music City’s Ascend Amphitheater also included stars Vince Gill, Amy Grant, and Alison Krauss.
Watch Keith’s tear-jerking performance below.
Besides honoring the victims and allowing a place for the Music City community to come together to grieve, the vigil also raised awareness for the Music City Cares Fund. The charity was established through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in order to aid victims of Sunday night’s mass shooting during the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. All of the donations collected will be going to Las Vegas nonprofits to help with the immediate and long-term needs of those impacted by the attack. To view more information about the fund and to donate, go here.
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