ACM Awards Open With Powerful Tribute to Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Victims

The 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards kicked off Sunday night with an emotional tribute to the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.

Jason Aldean opened the show with a short speech, followed by Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett.

Rather than a song, the five country music stars stood under a single light.

“Music does so much more than provide an escape from the pain,” Morris said. “It inspires us and soothes us and it makes us stronger.”

“With respect and love for the victims, our friends, family and fans, we celebrate the music tonight,” Aldean said. “America, this is your ACM Awards.

The ceremony took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, near the scene of the shooting. There was a debate among the ACM executives about moving the ceremony, but they ultimately decided to stick with tradition and bring entertainment to Las Vegas, which has hosted 15 of the last 16 ACM Awards.

“It certainly was contemplated, but no one was speaking up saying we had to move. In fact, just about the opposite happened,” Pete Fisher, ACM chief executive officer, told the Washington Post. “As difficult it will be for some people, everyone wanted to come back to Vegas.”

Fisher added, “Moving the show out of Las Vegas this year would have just really felt like an abandonment, and, in a sense, like hate won.”

On Oct. 1, a gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, across the street from the Route 91 Harvest festival stage, killing 58 people and leaving more than 400 others injured. It is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history and started a debate on the bump fire stocks, which the gunman used to fire a semi-automatic rifle at nearly the same rate of a fully automatic weapon.

Since the tragedy, the ACM’s Lifting Lives charity has donated $400,000 to charities to help victims, families and first responders.

“The show goes on and we’re coming back,” host Reba McEntire told Inside Edition recently. “We’re fighters. We are going to pay tribute and let those folks know they are not forgotten and we are still praying for them.”

ACM Awards Executive Producer Barry Adelman also said in a pre-show video that they talked with Jason Aldean about the tribute. Aldean was onstage when the shooting began.

“We took his lead, of what he felt, and the people around him and he’s come up with an idea, and we worked closely with them, and we were happy with the way it’s coming together,” Adelman said.

“This is the elephant in the room,” executive producer R.A. (RAC) Clark told Billboard. “We are going to address it right at the top of the show. Rather than say exactly what we’re going to do, I would prefer to keep it a mystery until we do. But I feel like we found the appropriate voices to put to it. Then we have to get into our show — not leave it behind, but focus on what’s ahead of us.”

This year’s nominees for entertainer of the year are Chris Stapleton, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Aldean.

Photo credit: Michele Crowe/CBS