Chris Young debuted his emotional new song, "Drowning," at the Grand Ole Opry in early June, and midway through the performance, he broke down.
"I thought I was okay at the end of the first chorus, but by verse two, I knew I was in trouble,” Young recalls to People. “I tried my best to pull myself together, but I just couldn’t. And then the audience all stood up and started applauding, and that was it. I couldn’t finish the song."
Young co-wrote "Drowning" with Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge, and it's a very real story about his friend Adam who died in a car accident. Adam had been by Chris' side since the beginning of his career.
Chris Young then performed the song again at CMT Artists of the Year Awards on October 12 in honor of Kane Brown's late drummer who died in a car crash on Saturday, October 12. Chris Young was not slated to perform 'Drowning' at the award ceremony that night, but did anyways.