Country Singer Eric Church Says Vegas Shooting 'Broke' Him In Emotional Interview

Content Warning: Mass Shootings, Fatalities, Grieving Process, Survivor's Guilt

The lasting effects of mass shootings are felt not only by the families and loved ones of those killed or injured, but also by everyone who was there.

During a touching interview with Today's Willie Geist, country singer Eric Church revealed that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, which left 58 people dead and countless others injured, left him and his music forever changed.

Though it's been eight years, the musician still struggles with memories of that day, as well as the lingering survivor's guilt he's had to process from being one of the people who walked away.

During the interview, Church confided to Geist:

"I mean, we've all had bad years, but, 2018 was a really bad year for me, and it started with Vegas. There's certain indelible things that you just don't get over, and I think that was one for me."

"And after that, right after that, I had a health scare. I had a blood clot and thought I was going to die. And then, my brother died, you know? So all this happened, within a matter of months."

He said that so much happening back-to-back impacted every area of his life.

"I think, up until that point, you can listen to the music, maybe, and you can see that I was brash, arrogant, in a lot of ways."

"But it changes, when you have those things happen to you. And I think it made the music more humble and, maybe, more observant."

Church looked back on the first performance he held right after the shooting.

To honor those lost that day, Church paid tribute to them at the Grand Ole Opry with a new song he wrote just for them, which spoke to his grieving process and survivor's guilt, called, "Why Not Me."

"The relationship between the artist and the fans in that moment in time is sacred. And those bullets shattered that."

"I had a lot of fans die. And I played the Grand Ole Opry right after that, and didn't want to be there. But I remember, there were a number of fans that had went to the Vegas show that were going to fly across the country to come to the Opry show, to see me play the Opry."

"That was a part of their travel and some of 'em got shot. They died. And I remember being at the Opry, that night, and... it's still raw in a lot of ways, but just not something that affects you. It broke me in a way."

You can watch the interview here:

Fans applauded Church for opening up about what happened, an agreed it came through in his music.

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Fans of Eric Church were touched by how the mass shooting transformed him and his music, and how important his fans and his relationship with them was.

The depth of his music has always been undeniable, whether or not you're a country music fan, but since that day, there's no questioning that Eric Church's music has taken on new meaning.