Country star Eddie Montgomery has broken his silence to thank fans for their support following the death of his bandmate Troy Gentry.
The Montgomery Gentry singer passed away on 8 September (17) after a helicopter he was a passenger in crashed ahead of a concert in New Jersey.
Eddie was among the mourners at Troy's memorial service at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee less than a week after the accident, and now the veteran musician has reached out to devotees to share his heartache, revealing it will take him a long time to come to terms with the loss of his longtime bandmate and close friend.
"Our world was turned upside down in an instant, and nothing could have prepared us for this," he wrote in his first statement since the incident.
"Over the past few months me and T-Roy (sic) have been working on what I think is the best record of our career," Eddie continued. "In the last few weeks we had been talking about what our first single would be. Then on September 8, none of that mattered."
Eddie used their new single, Better Me, to close Troy's memorial service, and released the track online the following day - on the one-week anniversary of his death.
Eddie reveals the tune, on which Troy sings about wanting to become a better man, was one of the late star's favourites.
"Better Me is a song we all loved and Troy sings his a** off on it," he added. "It speaks volumes about his life and who he had become and everybody he touched and how much he loved his family. I am so proud of this song and also to call him my friend, my family, my brother for 30 years."
