Blake Shelton Wrote “Over You” About His Brother’s Death
Blake Shelton honored his dear friend, Troy Gentry, with a powerful performance following his death in 2017.
“Over You” is one song you’ll never forget. It perfectly captures the feeling of how much it hurts to lose a loved one.
Blake Shelton co-wrote the song with his now ex-wife, Miranda Lambert. Blake wrote it in memory of his brother Richie, who was killed in a car crash at the age of 24.
Although the song captured his feelings, Blake couldn’t bring himself to sing it. He told Miranda he wanted her to have it, so she released it in 2012.
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The song resonated with audiences and claimed the top spot on the country charts in both the U.S. and Canada. It also crossed over to peak at the 35th spot on the Billboard Top 100.
Just months after its release, Blake’s Voice team member Cassadee Pope placed her own spin on the song during the week the Top 10 contestants competed. Her powerful performance touched viewers.
Her recording reached the third spot on the Hot Country Songs chart and the 25th place on the Hot 100. Cassadee eventually won her season of The Voice.
While Miranda, Cassadee, and others have performed “Over You” many times through the years, Blake tends to shy away from the song. But whenever he does sing it, the moment is always a powerful one.
So you can imagine how much of an impact Blake left on a Grand Ole Opry audience who watched him dust off the song in honor of another special person he lost. That someone was his good friend and country music star, Troy Gentry.
Blake Shelton Pays Tribute To Troy Gentry After His Death
Troy passed away on September 8, 2017, after he was involved in a helicopter crash. He and his Montgomery Gentry bandmate, Eddie Montgomery, were supposed to perform later that night.
The country music community was devastated over Troy’s loss. Emotional messages flooded social media, with one of the most powerful coming from Blake.
When Troy’s wife Angie wanted to gather some of his friends to host a charity benefit in his honor, she knew that Blake was a go-to person. He was more than willing to help and offered to co-host the event, which took place on January 9, 2019.
But no one had any idea that Blake also planned to sing during the gathering, since he wasn’t billed as a performer.
And when Blake sat down to sing with nothing but his acoustic guitar in hand, surely no one expected that he’d gather up the courage to sing “Over You.”
But that’s exactly what Blake did, baring his emotions in front of the entire crowd as he honored his lost friend through the song he wrote to honor his lost brother.
We don’t believe there was a single dry eye in that house once he finished singing.
Thankfully, the Opry captured Blake’s performance on film, and shared a snippet of it on social media. Now you can witness the chilling moment that Blake honored Troy with the song he rarely finds the strength to sing.
Moments like Blake Shelton’s tribute to Troy Gentry go down in the country music history books.