Harry Connick Jr. on driving across the country to thank essential workers amid coronavirus

Harry Connick Jr. is no stranger to the road. Along with his roles in film, on television and Broadway, the musician and actor has spent much of the last 30 years playing concerts across the country.

But on his latest tour, Connick was the one doing the listening.

One month ago, he and his 24-year-old daughter, filmmaker Georgia Connick, took an RV from their home in Connecticut to his native New Orleans. They stopped in cities and small towns along the way to speak with essential workers — from teachers to truck drivers, paramedics and firefighters — and express their gratitude.

It’s captured in the new two-hour TV special, “United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute to the Unsung Heroes,” which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

“What I really wanted to do on this special was celebrate folk that you don't get to hear about,” Connick says. “And some of the stories were just amazing. I met a sanitation worker in New Orleans, and he was just wondering why we wanted to talk to him in the first place. ... I said, 'Do you think what you're doing is heroic?' And this particular guy was the only one who said, 'You know what? Yes, I do.' Everybody else was like, 'No, this is just what we do.' But this guy was like, 'You're damn right I'm a hero!' ”

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Connick called on famous friends — including Sandra Bullock, Drew Brees, Queen Latifah, Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey and Renée Zellweger — to surprise these workers with video messages. There are also more than a dozen musical performances from the likes of Herbie Hancock, Dave Matthews, Tim McGraw, Jamie Foxx, Andra Day, John Fogerty and Cyndi Lauper. Connick’s part of that roster, too — when the show reaches his hometown, he’s seen performing at famed locales around New Orleans, along with Trombone Shorty and Irma Thomas.

“This show is a result of that selfish need to perform, because I love performing,” he says. “But also, you feel compelled to do something. Everybody's doing something. People who own restaurants are turning them into food banks, and this is our way of giving back and saying thanks. It's a cliche, but we all are in it together.”

The first person Connick visited on the trip was his sister, Suzanna Jamison, a colonel in the United States Army Reserve working as a psychiatrist at Queens Hospital. Among the people he spoke to in New Orleans was Joy Palmer, a 35-year employee of the city’s Regional Transit Authority. She lost her husband to COVID-19 on March 31.

“Going to work every day, and getting back with the operators and the people that I work with, that’s family, too,” she says in the special.

“I hope you know how much we’re thinking about you,” Connick tells her.

He and his daughter made the two-week trek with a small crew in two trailing RVs, and the production was extremely hands-on. Georgia Connick was in charge of the handheld cameras and audio, and her father recalls parking outside a fast-food restaurant in East Tennessee, trying in vain to upload video footage over spotty Wi-Fi. They had to stop in Nashville to physically hand off hard drives to a local affiliate.

Filming wrapped in mid-May, and the Connicks returned home a few days before the death of George Floyd sparked protests across the country and spurred national discussions on racism and privilege.

“A lot of conversations are being had that need to happen,” Harry Connick Jr. says. “It's a time for learning. It's a time for action. It's a time for listening. I'm thrilled that my children get to be a part of this incredible change, which I think is happening right before our eyes. It's a profoundly important time in our country's history, and I hope we land on the right side of it.”

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Harry Connick Jr. on CBS TV special 'United We Sing' amid coronavirus