Granger Smith Announces He's Going Back on Tour After Son's Drowning Death: 'Music Heals Me'
Granger Smith has announced he will be going back on tour just weeks after his 3-year-old son River’s tragic drowning death.
The country singer, 39, revealed the news on Wednesday in a YouTube video shared to his family channel.
“I’m still going to do music, in fact I’m going to go back on tour next week and I’m going to bring them with me,” Granger said in the video, which shows him sitting next to his wife Amber.
“We’re all going to go,” Amber, 37, said fighting back tears.
Granger later explained that the tour will be much different this time around as he’s decided to refrain from doing meet and greets.
“I don’t think that’s the best place for me to be right now,” he said. “A. it’s going to be strange if we have to talk about River and B. it’s going to be even stranger if we don’t talk about River.”
“So I think it’s best for all of us until I get my head straight,” Granger said.
As for why he’s going back on the road, Granger explained, “Music has always been healing. That’s the place I’ve always turned to.”
Granger has been listed on the lineup for Chicago’s Country Music Festival on Saturday. However, it is not immediately clear if the star will perform.
After news of River’s death broke, a number of country stars sent Granger and his family well wishes.
“Many prayers. So Sorry,” Luke Bryan wrote in the comment section of Granger’s post, which shared the news.
Jason Aldean said, “I can’t imagine what y’all are going thru. Praying for u and ur family brother. We are heartbroken for u guys.”
Maren Morris also sent her prayers, writing, “I am so, so sorry. Thinking of you and your family at this time.”
On June 6, Granger’s rep confirmed to PEOPLE that River’s tragic death was due to a drowning accident at home.
RELATED: Country Star, Husband and Doting Father: What to Know About Singer Granger Smith
In the YouTube video, Granger opened up about the final special moment he shared with River.
Granger explained on that day, he was outside doing gymnastics with his 7-year-old daughter London as his sons River and Lincoln Monarch, 5, were playing water gun fight.
In that very moment, Granger said he thought to himself, “Soak up this moment because it’s not going to last.”
Within “30 seconds to 3 minutes,” Granger and Amber found themselves “inside of our pool gate doing CPR on our son.”
River would be rushed to hospital but doctors were not able to revive him and he died two days later.
As Granger and Amber continue to come to terms with River’s sudden death, they are doing their best to find the “good” in the situation.
Granger explained he believes “God gave River to us for three years and that was his mission.”
“I don’t think God takes anyone too soon. I believe he was put on this earth for that exact amount of time,” he said.
The singer went on to share that his daughter asked “How long did River live?” to which he replied with “Just over a thousand days.”
That’s when Granger said he thought: “What if you were given a gift to live 1000 days?”
“If you could live those days barefoot, red hair flying back on your tractor full speed ahead, if you could do that with your family around you, with no real care in the world — that’s a good way to live,” he said fighting back tears.
“He lived a good 1000 days,” Granger continued. “That’s a huge example for me and how we’re going to look at every single day.”
Granger added, “Don’t feel sorry for us. We feel very blessed. We had an incredible boy for three years and we feel good about that.”
“We are going to live our best life.”
