Randall King had some harsh words for disrespectful fans who were causing a disruption as he tried to honor his late sister, Leanna, at a show.
Late last week, the singer was performing in Chattanooga, Tenn., and he took a moment to honor his sister, who died in 2020 at the age of 32.
“My sister meant everything in the world to me. She was my best friend,” King said during his onstage tribute.
“I miss her every day, man, but I can tell you, in the last five years, I’ve seen her many times. She shows up in pink flamingos and yellow roses in Texas,” he continued. “She’s always around.”
But not everyone in the crowd was respectful of the gravity of the moment.
In fan-filmed video posted to TikTok, you can hear some fans in the background yelling over King’s comments. One fan appears to be yelling at him to cover a Merle Haggard song, and it’s not entirely clear why, though King has covered Haggard’s “Silver Wings” on multiple occasions in the past.
“Shut up! I ain’t playing the damn Haggard song!” King shoots back, pointing out into the spot in the crowd where the man’s voice came from.
“I’m talking about my sister, man. Give me a second. Be respectful, please,” he continues, in a calmer tone of voice.
After his sister’s death, King released an EP named after her, called Leanna. The four-track project includes a cover of the Albert E. Brumley hymn standard “I’ll Fly Away,” a song about life after death. King’s version is intertwined with his 2018 release “When He Knows Me.”
It’s also a song that has special significance to King’s family. He sang “I’ll Fly Away” at both of his grandfathers’ funerals, and the second of those, in early 2020, turned out to be the last time he saw Leanna.
Then, when she was in the ICU and pandemic restrictions meant that only their father could be there with Leanna in person, King and the rest of the family gathered around a phone to talk to her.
“He sort of put us on speakerphone, laid it by her head,” he recounted the following year. “Me and the whole family sang gospel songs for about 45 minutes, and then we get into that song, and that’s when she went.”
11 Country Songs That Mention Jesus by Name
Country music has its themes of drinking and carousing sometimes, but the genre is also rooted deeply in the Christian faith. Some of the biggest stars in country music have recorded songs that mention Jesus by name, as you’ll see in the list below.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
