In preparation for the release of his music video, Josh Turner shares the story behind his “Forever and Ever, Amen” cover with Randy Travis.
“This record wouldn’t be complete without a Randy Travis song because everybody knows that Randy was the reason I moved out here to Nashville. He’s the one who really instilled this passion in me, you know, to step out on faith and chase this dream of being a country singer as a profession. This was the first time Randy had been in the studio, um, since the stroke, which was pretty cool for me. I’m honored to have been the first one to ask him.”
Randy suffered from a stroke in 2013. Since that time he has been in recovery, severely limiting his time on the music scene.
“There’s a ton of Randy Travis songs I could put on here, but I couldn’t quit thinking about all the times since his stroke that there has been an event or a show where someone would come out and sing ‘Forever and Ever, Amen.’ And he would sing the ‘amen’ at the very end. And how, you know, it just moved the crowd so much.”
Josh was so moved by how audiences responded to the song, especially Randy’s vocal at the end, that choosing this song was a no-brainer. And instead of a live playing, they people would eventually forget about, they could record it.
“A picture is worth a thousand words. This one word is worth a thousand words.”
Josh regards Randy as a hero and a friend. Their song together appears on Josh’s album Country State of Mind.
Randy Travis has had an impact on people from Josh Turner to The Voice’s season 15 winner, Chevel Shepherd. As his recovery continues, we will surely get to see more of him in music.
Randy is a great reminder to Josh and others that sickness might knock us done in life, but we don’t have to stay there.
“Serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water. I will remove illnesses from