Garth Brooks took a few minutes to share his thoughts and comments with fans after the Las Vegas shooting that claimed the lives of 59 people and injured more than 500 more. In the Facebook video, a clearly emotional Brooks spoke from the heart.
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"So here's the deal," Brooks says at one point. "I didn't want to do this." But he spends the first several minutes by telling viewers what he saw in the images from the Route 91 Harvest Festival. "What I saw?" Brooks says. "I saw a lot of courage." He then references not just the first responders, but the hospital staff and volunteers. He also mentions members of the crowd doing what they could to help each other, like laying on one another to shield people from bullets. "Character flows in country music," he says.
Brooks then uses a quote from one of his favorite movies, Starman, to summarize his thoughts. "When things are at their worst, you are at your best," he says.
Garth Brooks then shifts his attention to the performers and artists tasked with shows in the coming weeks. He mentions that his band doesn't perform again until Thursday, so they have a few moments to digest. But for those unsure of how to handle themselves moving forward, Brooks is clear.
"The show must go on," he says. "It just does. When things go bad, doctors go to work. When things go bad, policeman go to work. And when things go bad, music and musicians go to work."
READ MORE: Country Stars React to Route 91 Country Music Festival Shooting
Telethons, playing for a cause. Whatever does it. "If you've got a gig tonight, you have all my strength and all my love," he says. "Because those people in those seats come to get away from it all. To be happy, and joyous. To sing and to love one another."
Music, as Brooks notes, has the power to heal. "I'll go first," he says before strumming an emotional version of "The Change," which almost feels like it was written for moments like this.
