Brothers Osborne Expect to Be ‘Far More Emotional Than Nervous’ for Route 91 Grammys Tribute
Leading up to the 2018 Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy has announced that Brothers Osborne plan to collaborate with Maren Morris and Eric Church on a tribute honoring victims of the mass shooting at 2017's Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nev. The tribute will take place at the 60th annual Grammy Awards, which will take place on Jan. 28 in New York City.
The performance is personal for each of the three acts, all of whom played at the festival shortly before the attacks took place. The duo themselves, made up of John and TJ Osborne, acknowledges that any Grammys performance would be a little nerve-wracking for them, regardless of the circumstances.
"I think there's a lot of nerves around playing the Grammys, because you're in front of the upper echelon of all genres there in one room," TJ Osborne said at a press conference. "But for me, I think the fact that it's a tribute to those victims takes the focus off of that. I think I'll be far more emotional than I will be nervous, and that's actually more my worry -- just getting through the performance in that regard."
John Osborne also points out that the duo will not be alone onstage, and they're thankful for that: "We feel very, very fortunate to be able to play on stage at the Grammys, especially with Eric and Maren, who are two very good friends of ours," he comments.
Remembering the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Victims
The shooting, which took place on Oct. 1, 2017, left 58 festivalgoers dead and hundreds more injured, making the attack the deadliest mass shooting by an individual in U.S. history. The lone gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nev., opened fire from the window of his suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel, onto a crowd that had gathered to see Jason Aldean perform, at 10:05 PM. About an hour after the attack ceased, Paddock was found dead from a self-inflicted gun shot in his hotel room.
As Morris, Church and the Brothers Osborne prepare to honor the victims of the massacre, the tragedy is still fresh in the minds of those affected by it: The Grammys will take place a little under four months after the shooting occurred. The duo hopes their tribute will speak to a still-grieving community and help provide a message of healing.
"The most important thing about that moment is honoring the victims and their families above all else," John Osborne says. "I just hope at the end of the day we can help heal something, at least a little bit."
The 60th annual Grammy Awards will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Jan. 28. The televised ceremony will begin at 7:30PM ET on CBS; the pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony will be available to stream online earlier in the evening.
The Boot will be staying up late covering the most buzzed-about country winners, fashion and moments at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Readers can watch along with us by checking back to TheBoot.com for the latest Grammys headlines, liking The Boot on Facebook and following The Boot on Twitter.
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