Country music lovers banded together in Nashville on Monday night to show their unity and support for victims of the Las Vegas shooting just one day earlier.
Keith Urban led the vigil, hosted downtown at Ascend Ampitheather, and performed a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” for a crowd of around 600 supporters.
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The 49-year-old also shared with fans how he learned about the tragic attack that unfolded the night before.
“I started this morning finding out about it and being shell-shocked. My 9-year-old asked, ‘Dad, you seem quiet,’” Urban told the audience about his talk with daughter Sunday Rose. “I said, ‘Yeah, a lot of people died last night,’ and she said, ‘Did you know any of them?’ “
Spreading love from Music City to Las Vegas. Thank you, @keithurban. #vegasstrong https://t.co/udW8P2SHgw
— Nashville Tennessee (@visitmusiccity) October 2, 2017
He answered with a chilling statement that summed up the evening: “They’re like family. It’s the one thing about country music. It is a community. I do know those people. It just hit me.”
The mass shooting in Las Vegas began Sunday night during fellow country singer and Nashville resident Jason Aldean’s performance to conclude the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival, a country music event also attended by Jake Owen, Big & Rick, Kane Brown and Luke Combs, among others.
Also at the Nashville vigil were Alison Krauss, Nashville star Charles Esten and Vince Gill, who performed “Go Rest High on the Mountain” during the candlelit service.
“I think more than anything we have to stick up for innocent people. If we lose sight of that, we’ve lost everything. As long as there is somebody that might have a voice for those that have been stilled… we gotta fight the fight,” Gill told PEOPLE. “Kindness would solve it all… Any problem you can imagine. Just kindness towards one another would solve every living problem we have.”
Gill’s wife Amy Grant led a prayer at the event. “Could we bow all our heads and lean over to touch the person next to you,” she asked. “Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of each other. Thank you that none of us are born or die alone. You go before us and beneath us. Fill our hearts to not be afraid and love. Thank you God that your loving arms catch every fallen person. In silence we imagine all the people rebuilding their lives. Broken. Grieving.”
The moving event was organized by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, along with the CMA and Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.
“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the tragic event in Las Vegas, especially the victims, their families and friends, and the fans, artists and crews from our Country community in Vegas,” organizers wrote in a joint statement. “This festival brought together people from all backgrounds united in enjoying life through music.”
They put the event together quickly “in an effort to offer Nashvillians an opportunity to show their love for the victims of this deadly shooting,” they wrote.
During the event, organizers collected donations to the Music City Cares Fund, pledging 100 percent would be sent to help with the immediate and ongoing needs of victims in Las Vegas.
Photo credit: Getty / Rick Diamond
