Chris Young’s Decision to Attend Route 91 Festival Was Last-Minute
Chris Young didn't plan on being in Las Vegas on Oct. 1. He wasn't on the bill for that night's Route 91 Harvest Festival, but he wound up taking cover backstage as a lone gunman fired on the crowd.
Speaking of the incident, Young tells Taste of Country it was the scariest night of his life. He returned to the stage three nights later in Fresno, Calif., and debated if that was the right move. But his band was there, and none of them were affected.
“I was actually in San Francisco that morning and made a last-minute decision that I was gonna fly down," the "Losing Sleep" singer says. "But I was the only person in my crew, band, etc. ... that was there.”
The Fresno show was "therapeutic," and Young expects his next show on Oct. 12 will be, too — although it won't be easy. Young is a part of Jason Aldean's They Don't Know Tour. Aldean was on stage performing when the shooting began.
“You never speak for someone else, but I know it will be a tough night for Jason because that's his first," Young says of the show in Oklahoma. In the days since the tragedy, Aldean has only played in front of a small crowd at Saturday Night Live.
Young will be busy through October, as his new album Losing Sleep drops Oct. 20. The 10-track collection features several uptempo love songs and two dark ballads as raw as anything he's cut previously. A song called "Blacked Out" is one he says is very special to him.
These Are the Victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting
Wait! Hold On Chris, We Have One Last Question!