Ronnie Milsap Hosts A Final Nashville Show With Tribute Performances From His Famous Friends
There’s no disputing Ronnie Milsap‘s status as a country music legend. Only two other artists have more #1 country hits than him, those artists being George Strait and Conway Twitty.
Milsap is now 80 years old. While he isn’t ready to fully retire, he does want to scale down his live performance commitments.
He chose to host one final show in Nashville on October 3. The show included tribute performances from a number of stars, including Kelly Clarkson, Little Big Town, Sara Evans, Ricky Skaggs, and Keith Urban.
Urban paid tribute to Milsap with a performance of one of his deeper cuts, “Out Where the Bright Lights are Glowing.”
The Story Behind Ronnie Milsap’s “Out Where The Bright Lights Are Glowing”
“Out Where the Bright Lights are Glowing” was written by Gary Harrison and Kent Robbins. It served as the first track on Milsap’s album of the same title, which was released in 1981.
The album is Milsap’s tribute to Jim Reeves, who passed away in 1964. All of the tracks are covers of Reeves’ songs, with the exception of “Out Where the Bright Lights are Glowing” and “Dear Friend.” Those two songs were written specifically for the album.
Milsap never released “Out Where the Bright Lights are Glowing” as a single. So it’s one of the lesser-known songs in his catalog, but is beloved by his most devoted fans.
Hear Keith Urban’s Rendition Of “Out Where The Bright Lights Are Glowing”
“When I found out about this night, I said ‘I really want to be a part of it.’ I grew up playing a lot of Ronnie’s songs,” Urban said as he prepared to deliver his tribute to Milsap.
Urban explained why he chose to perform “Out Where the Bright Light Are Glowing.”
“There was one [song] that I always loved. It’s a little bit obscure. Ronnie did a tribute record to the great Jim Reeves…there was a song written specifically for that album, I always loved that song, and so I want to do that song tonight for Ronnie.”
One person who attended Milsap’s final Nashville show filmed Urban singing “Out Where The Bright Lights Are Glowing.” They shared the video on YouTube, which you can enjoy below.