Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is almost upon us, Americans remember that devastating day as if it were yesterday. Chances are that you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard the horrific news of the terrorist attacks. Country stars are no different and we’ve compiled a list of 9/11 stories and memories from some of your favorite artists…
“”Everybody knows where they were when that happened. I was on a bus driving through Virginia on my way home, turned on the TV and saw it all unfold. And I knew that everybody’s lives where changing forever, in one way or another, like the rest of the world did at that moment. You know, we’re still not back to even. And it’s going to be a while before we are.” – Kenny Chesney
“9-11, I was a sophomore in high school; I was in the choir. And I remember even in my little-bitty town of East Texas — in Lindale, Texas — there was kids leavin’ school because their loved ones had been injured or killed in 9-11, so it affected so many people and so many lives, and it’ll never be forgotten as long as I live. I’ll always remember where I was and that feeling.” – Miranda Lambert
“As I’m watching the live footage, I saw the other plane come into the other building and hit it. Whoever the news anchor was was saying, ‘Oh my God, that wasn’t a replay. That just happened too.’ It gives me chills talking about it right now.” – Blake Shelton
“I was like everybody else. I was scared, stunned, shocked and didn’t know what was going on. I wanted to be as far south from DC and New York City as I could. I called my dad because he had retired from the Air Force and asked him what I should do. He goes, ‘Man, if I was you, I’d pack up and get out of Nashville now. They’ve hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and I’m sure Music Row is next on their list.’ It put it in perspective how stupid I was being.” — Jason Aldean
“I had an apartment in New York, and if you looked out my bedroom window, you could see the World Trade Center. I was on my way back home from playing a 7am round of golf, and was catching a noon flight. We stopped to get a drink, and I looked and saw the second tower come down. It was a vicious day.” — Darius Rucker
“I was driving in to work at the Shop-At-Home Network and listening to the radio when the news broke. I really couldn’t grasp what had happened until I got to work and saw it for myself on television. I watched the second plane hit the tower in real time. I had just moved to Nashville earlier that year, and all I remember is wanting to go home and be with those I loved. I’ll never, I’ll never forget that feeling.” — Eric Church
“It was my birthday, believe it or not. I was in college and getting ready to go to class. My roommate came in and said, ‘Man, turn on the TV. Classes are canceled.’ And we all got up and watched it. It was just wild … It’s hard to put into words.” — Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley
“I was in 10th grade… I was actually on my way to history class, interestingly enough, and so we got to that class and turned the TV on, and we’re just watching the footage and then we ended up having an assembly that day where the whole school went into the gym and our headmaster got up and explained kind of everything that was going on and what happened. It’s one of those things that’s forever ingrained in your memory… I think too, not only is it a time to reflect on those lost in that tragedy, I think it’s a time to really celebrate our military. And just another way of bringing praise to them and thanking them for what they do, which is protect us and protect our freedom on a daily basis. And thankfully nothing like that has happened since. And I think that that’s a testament to how well we’re protected.” – Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott
“Gosh, I mean as a human, it just completely breaks your heart. And as an American, it was such a devastating tragedy. Gosh, I mean that it still affects us 10 years later, and it will for the rest of our lives. I mean, there’s no doubt that it will. But I think as people and as a country, we’re stronger for it and going to keep pushing forward. And our goal is to get rid of people that would do evil like that in the world. So it’s tough to have that happen to us but we’ll always remember those that were lost.” – Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood
“Well, we brought our families in that morning because we were getting ready to have our first gold party at Lyric Street Records. My mom actually knocked on my bedroom door after the first plane had hit and I woke up, turned on my television and saw the second plane hit live on television. So I can remember it like it was yesterday. It’s amazing to me to think that it’s been ten years because it’s still so vivid in my mind.” – Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus
“I remember the most emotionally moved I’ve ever been was after 9-11. We went out on tour, and we prepared a video snippet, and it had nothing to do with 9-11. And we start this show with a heartbeat — boom, boom — big heartbeat, massive in the sound system, and it would kick in to ‘Only in America.’ And the crowd was so loud during the song that you couldn’t hear yourself sing. And so emotional. My wife…I took my wife out on the tour, I mean Janine, to see what was goin’ on. It was unbelievable.” – Ronnie Dunn
“I’ll never forget, man, I was in school — I was taking a critical reasoning and thinking class, right off of the Landis Green in Tallahassee at Florida State University. And I remember sittin’ down that morning in class, and on the big projector, he had the news on, and he was like, ’Ah, some idiot,’ our teacher said, ‘Some idiot just flew his plane into the World Trade Center.’ And everyone’s like, ‘What?’ We couldn’t believe that. And then, it was right then, man, where all of a sudden, they started saying it was a terrorist act, and the next thing you know, they said, ‘There’s another one coming! There’s another one coming!’ And it was just…man, to sit there and watch that was one of the most horrific things I’ve ever seen with my own eyes… I was walkin’ around, and I mean, on a campus full of thousands and thousands of people that walk around every day, it was just silent. Everyone was silent. And they were just kind of walkin’ around lookin’ at each other, I think appreciating that we’re even still there. Anytime 9-11 rolls around, it’s always one of those things where you think about 10 years ago and how much that changed our day-to-day lives and, you know, you just think about those people that lost family members and hope and pray that it never happens again.” – Jake Owen
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“My memory of 9-11 was I was in school — the natural resources program at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin — and was just between classes, and there’s this great big screen in the commons area, and it was on the news — it was all over — and we just kind of all stopped what we were doing and watched. And you know, the rest of the day, all the classes, we all just spent watching the news and kind of not believing what was goin’ on. And I remember one of the teachers said then that our lives are about to change drastically, and he was right.” – Josh Thompson
“I think I was probably like most people that were impacted with that day and the months that followed. You know, everybody was glued to the news and television and I think it really affected a lot of people – their perspective on their lives and their jobs and their families and where they were and what they were wanting to do and how they looked at things. And I guess…I mean, that’s what I was thinking, too.” – Alan Jackson
“The realization that America was under attack and it’s where you feel safe and it’s your home and you think that those things don’t happen here. So for me that was the hardest part to digest. Like why would somebody want to do that? It’s just so sad. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years.” – Sunny Sweeney
“I was very nervous the morning of September 11, 2001, simply because I had hardly studied for a high school algebra test, and knew I was about to fail it! I remember feeling like it was the end of the world and all I could see was my mother’s disappointed face when I showed her a big, circled, “F” on the paper. Then our teacher turned on the TV and that’s when I saw the first tower in flames. Suddenly a little ole math test didn’t even matter, in fact, I don’t even know if we finished the test. I remember every single student in the room had their eyes glued to the TV, all watching together, almost like a family, worried for their brothers and sisters who were going through something unimaginable…I remember the hurt, the anger, and most of all, the unity that every one of us shared as we went through this together” – Brett Eldredge
“I was a freshman in college and was headed off to class when I saw on TV that the first plane had hit the tower…I just dropped my books and sat there for the next couple hours and watched. I remember not being able to comprehend how many people had just died…” – Frankie Ballard
“On Sept. 11, 2001….I was laying on my mattress on the floor of my apartment in Nashville … woke up to the morning news and just couldn’t believe my eyes. I felt great sorrow. A few days later, John Rich and I got on a plane…..we would not let fear invade our lives. Airports of course were in a state of emergency at that time….I am always reminded each day is a blessing for sure.” – Big Kenny, Big & Rich
“9-11 was a very tragic event, and I remember I was livin’ with my brother at the time. I woke up one morning — my brother woke me up — he said, ‘Oh, man, you need to turn the TV on.’ He said, ’A plane just hit the World Trade Center.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe it, and so I got up, and I started watchin’ it, and I was just like, ‘What is goin’ on?’ But the thing that I think I remember more than all of it, than all the tragedy, all the despair of the situation is I remember America coming united together. I remember that night I went on the corner, just the corner outside my house, and there was people out there that were having candlelight vigils everywhere. People just standin’ on the corners of the streets, holding lighters, holding candles, and I joined ‘em. And I was like, ’Wow, this is amazing.'” – Danny Gokey
Tell us… where were you when the world stopped turning? Please share your 9/11 memories and stories with us in the comments section.
