Chris Young Shares His Most Memorable Experience With Route 91 Survivor

When a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, Chris Young was backstage on a bus. He was unharmed in the shooting, but like all others present, he will forever be affected by what happened.

Since the tragedy, the singer has connected with other survivors, meeting many of them on the road during his current Losing Sleep World Tour. His most memorable experience came in Tacoma, Washington, where he met a fellow survivor who attended his show with her friends and a sign remembering the festival.

“I said, ‘I want to say thank you for coming to the show,’” Young told CMT.com. “‘I’m sorry that you had to go through all that and that everybody had to go through that, but I’m really glad that you’re here tonight and getting to enjoy yourself and enjoy music, which is what a concert is supposed to be.’”

“She teared up, and we took a photo together,” he continued. “But little reminders like that, there’s definitely a lot of those that are going to happen. It’s nice to see people still going through something like that still able to come out and enjoy the experience and the music and the love of it.”

Young also shared a personal message on his social media accounts on the one-year anniversary of the shooting on Monday.

“I don’t open up very often so I hope everyone takes this message as I mean it,” he wrote. “It has been a year since #Route91 happened…so much loss for no reason during something that should have been a happy moment for everyone present.”

“I was there, I’m lucky to be alive, and I will never forget the loss that so many had to suffer through that day and all the days since,” Young continued. “I’ll never forget having to call my family saying I hoped to see them again. I love you all. Cherish every day you have.”

The 33-year-old didn’t perform at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, but took the stage just days later for a show of his own in California.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to play Fresno, on [the following] Wednesday: I don’t want to wait to get back into this. I just want to go play,” he told The Boot at the time. “A concert is supposed to be a safe space for people, and it’s supposed to be something to let them have a good time and forget maybe about the world for a little while. I don’t want to get ever to a point where anybody would be able to take that away from anyone.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Erika Goldring