By the time One Tree Hill star Chad Michael Murray signed on to appear in Michael Ray‘s “Her World or Mine” video, the two were already close friends. After meeting in Nashville a few years ago, Ray instantly felt like he had met someone with whom he had a close kinship, which is why it was easy for him to appear with Murray in the emotional video.
Thanks @people for letting me share my inspiration behind the #herworldormine music video. pic.twitter.com/gw3yXQ2cfJ
โ Michael Ray (@Michaelraymusic) January 10, 2020
“Chad and I met a few years ago at the CMT Awards, and became instant friends,” Ray told PEOPLE, in a clip he shared on social media. “I think, outside of just being obviously an extremely talented guy, he’s probably one of the best human beings I’ve ever been around. Just how he holds his family together, and what they do, at this stage of my life being married, he’s just a real good friend, kind of a mentor in a lot of ways.
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“It was also the easiest way to let my dad know I was about to air a bunch of dirty laundry,” he added with a laugh. “But, Chad Michael Murray is playing you, so you’re looking good, Dad!”
In the video for “Her World or Mine,” Ray delves into several personal stories, including his parents’ divorce when he was a child, an abusive relationship his sister was in, and the devastating loss of his beloved grandmother.
“My parents got divorced when I was eight,” Ray recalled. “You have to grow up really fast at that point in time, and it wasn’t an easy few years, by any means. I wanted to touch on an abusive relationship that my sister was in, and then I wanted to also touch on the fact that ‘Her World or Mine’ took on another whole meaning for me, when we lost my grandmother in January of 2019.”
Ray is proud of the stories he told in the video for “Her World or Mine,” but that doesn’t mean it was easy for him to film.
“I cried when we were making it,” Ray admitted to PopCulture.com. “There are some moments in that video that are hard for me to watch. One thing I wanted to really do that I haven’t done yet is really dive in deeper to a video and show different sides of my story that I feel like we haven’t really addressed yet, that a lot of people live with or deal with on their own.
“I think that God gives us this platform and we should use it to connect with people that might feel lost or might feel confused,” he added, “or might feel alone and realize that, ‘Hey other people have also gone through this and it’s okay.’”
Photo Credit: Getty / Erika Goldring