Country Stars Celebrate Randy Travis’ ‘Timeless’ Legacy Backstage at Tribute Concert
Country music fans and stars alike know that Randy Travis has been a country music pioneer since his debut in the '80s, continuing to have hit after hit for decades to come. But it took a massive tribute concert to bring that fact home to the humble star.
Backstage at the all-star tribute concert in his honor on Wednesday (Feb. 8), which brought out a whole host of country music royalty including Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Alison Krauss, Tanya Tucker, Chris Young, Kane Brown, William Michael Morgan and many more, Travis' wife Mary admitted that the superstar felt lost in the shuffle after years in the business.
"I think everybody knows if they've ever worked with Randy Travis, they know he is a man of such humility," Mary says. "And he never really felt like he did that much for music or country music and I think that this helps bring it kind of home and saying, 'Yeah, you really did make a difference.'"
The night's performers agree.
"His songs are always relevant, they're timeless," Chris Janson said backstage, revealing that Travis' No. 1 hit "Diggin' Up Bones" was the first song he heard on the radio and learned how to sing. "They're songs that fit in now, they fit in when they came out, they'll fit in whenever we're long gone."
Josh Turner also cites Travis as a major influence, saying his ability to reach a wide audience through his songs is a quality Turner tries to emulate in his own music.
"He always kept it about the music and he always looked for songs that related to a mass audience, and that's kind of the way that I've always gone about making my music, is that I want to find songs that can relate to any human being," the "Hometown Girl" singer says of the icon. "That's what I aim for every time I go to make a record, and I learned that kind of stuff from guys like Randy Travis."
See Photos of the Randy Travis Tribute Concert
Watch: Randy Travis Sings at the Country Music Hall of Fame