At 80, blind pianist and Country Music Hall of Famer Ronnie Milsap is preparing for his final concert in Nashville, Tennessee, after nearly six decades of making music.
Tuesday’s concert is a tribute event featuring guest singers who take turns singing Milsap’s hits.
Artists on the list include Kelly Clarkson, Little Big Town, Parker McCollum, Justin Moore, Scotty McCreery, Tracy Lawrence, Randy Houser, Sara Evans, Lorrie Morgan, Trace Adkins, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman and more.
For many artists, the concert is personal. Milsap knew Morgan’s father, George Morgan; Milsap and Skaggs have been friends for many years, and McCreery’s earliest memories involve Milsap’s music. He said his mother was a big Milsap fan and remembers the whole family driving around in the car singing “Smoky Mountain Rain.”
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McCreery remembers Milsap performing near his hometown in North Carolina and sitting down at the piano to play his hits. McCreery also recalls a video screen behind Milsap that showed the singer’s life story and the stories behind the songs.
“It was a really intimate show,” McCreery, 29, told PEOPLE. “That concert must have been a highlight for young Scotty.”
McCreery believes Milsap has “a song for every moment in life” and loves the storytelling and expression the pianist uses in his music.
“You can just tell how much fun he’s having singing the songs and how happy it makes him, and how happy it makes the fans to listen to his music,” McCreery said. “I always find my way to his music, even if it’s been a while.”
Milsap has amassed more than 40 No. 1 songs throughout his career and has straddled multiple genres, including country, rock, pop, funk and rhythm and blues. He was part of the country-pop movement of the late 1970s and early ’80s with hits including “It Was Almost Like a Song,” “Stranger in My House,” “No Gettin’ over Me” and “Smoky Mountain Rain.” .
Kacey Musgraves duets with Ronnie Milsap in a new rendition of his 1981 hit ‘No Getting Over Me’.
Ricky Skaggs; Scotty McCreery; Lorrie Morgan.
Jason Davis/Getty Images for CMT; Dave Pedley/Getty Images for iHeartRadio; Taylor Hill/Getty
Morgan’s memories of Milsap go back to her childhood, when she would sit on the roof and listen to his music with her sister. He wasn’t playing country back then, he was drawing her in with his smooth voice and catchy tunes.
“Oh my God, I love him so much,” Morgan, 64, told PEOPLE.
When she began her country music career, she shared the stage with Milsap. She remembers that concert organizers once asked her to close a show for Milsap instead of opening it. She got angry and vowed that out of respect she would never close the show because of Milsap. Then he came to talk to her.
“He will always be better than me, and I refuse that,” she said. “Ronnie came to me and said, ‘Hey, it’s nothing personal. I’ve got a plane to catch in the morning, so I’ve got to be the first one.’ I said, ‘Oh God, OK. I’ll do it for you, Ronnie. I’ll do it for you.’ But I was so intimidated by it. I said, ‘Next time you’re going to have to take your own plane, Ronnie, because I’m not doing it again’.”
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Skaggs, 69, performed with Milsap in the early ’80s, and their relationship is different from the one Milsap shares with Morgan. Skaggs remembers joking with him, telling him he “really likes the red shirt” Milsap was wearing, knowing he couldn’t see it.
“He said, ‘Ha, ha, ha. No, you’re not going to trick me,'” Skaggs recalled, explaining that Milsap had always been very independent and enjoyed doing things on his own, like hooking up electronics or even driving his own tour bus.
Skaggs wouldn’t believe it if he hadn’t seen it himself. Milsap and Skaggs also played together on a particularly long drive. They weren’t playing that night, they were trying to get to a particularly distant town. Their buses traveled together, and Skaggs took a driving shift to give his bus driver a break.
“I’m walking down the road and I see Milsap’s bus coming by us,” Skaggs said. “I didn’t slow down but I looked past Ronnie’s bus driver and there’s Ronnie driving his bus. I almost ran off the road when I saw that. I’m just saying how fearless the guy was.”
Milsap said, “it’s a thrill” to have “these incredibly talented people who respect my music and me.”
“Everyone is a great talent in their own right,” he said. “I am humbled by their participation and grateful for their friendships.”
The final Nashville Show: A Tribute to Ronnie Milsap will take place at 7pm on Tuesday, October 3rd at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Tickets start at $46.50 and are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
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