Chris Young Talks Connecting With Fellow Route 91 Survivors

"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," said Young.

Written by Lauren Laffer
Chris Young Talks Connecting With Fellow Route 91 Survivors
Chris Young; Photo credit: John Shearer

One year after the tragic shooting at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas many of those in attendance are still healing. Fighting through both physical and mental scars, the group of survivors have found strength in supporting one another through the shared experience.

Among those learning to live after the massacre is Chris Young, who was backstage when a lone gunman took aim at the festival. The events of that night are forever ingrained in his memory, but through the help of fans, have become easier to deal with.

Since that night, Young has had the opportunity to connect with Route 91 survivors while on tour. His most memorable interaction came from a survivor from Tacoma, Washington. The woman was holding up a sign commemorating the festival with two girlfriends when she caught Young’s eye.

“I said, ‘I want to say thank you for coming to the show,’” Young shared with CMT. “‘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.”

The events from that tragic night are forever engrained in the history (and hearts) of the country music community. For the first anniversary of what’s been deemed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the entire country industry will pause for a moment of silence to remember the lives lost and honor those impacted. The moment of silence will take place on Monday, Oct. at 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT.