The Grammys Paid Tearful Respects to Victims of Tragedies at Live Music Events

In Memoriams are always the saddest part of any award show, but this year's Grammy Awards were particularly moving as artists united to pay tribute to music fans who died during the multiple violent attacks on concerts and festivals this year.

Country singers Brothers Osborne, Eric Church and Maren Morris led the tribute. All three acts were performers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, which became the site of the deadliest mass shooting in America when a gunman opened fire on the crowd and killed 59 people. Concert goers attending Ariana Grande's Manchester tour date in May also became victims of a terrorist attack that killed 23 people and injured 500 more.

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"Tonight to honor those we lost, Eric, Brothers Osborne and I, who all performed in Las Vegas that tragic weekend, wanted to come together and honor the memory of the beautiful music-loving souls so cruelly taken from us," Morris said just before the performance.

The group played a cover of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven," which was the legendary guitarist's own tribute to his late son, who died from falling out of a condo window in 1991. The mood was appropriately somber, and the set behind the performers showed the names of the lives lost at the Route 91 Harvest Festival as the song progressed.

"Live music events have always provided a safe space for fans to gather in a shared celebration of music. Sadly, that wasn't always the case this past year," Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement when the tribute was announced earlier this month. "We believe it's incredibly important to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in these senseless tragedies, and to remind musicians and music lovers alike that live music will continue to be a powerful force that unites us all."

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