Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were among those who gathered in Atlanta on Tuesday (Nov. 28) to pay their respects and honor the life of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19 at age 96.
The memorial service took place at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, on the campus of Atlanta’s Emory University, just over two hours away from the longtime home Rosalynn Carter shared with her husband, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who also attended the memorial service.
Brooks and Yearwood took part in the service, with Yearwood singing the John Lennon classic “Imagine,” and Brooks accompanying her on guitar. Following the performance, Yearwood briefly touched Carter’s coffin before the couple exited the stage.
Brooks and Yearwood came to know the Carters through volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. During a press conference on Nov. 20 to celebrate his Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk in downtown Nashville, Brooks noted that Georgia natives Yearwood and Rosalynn Carter had forged a close friendship over the years. Brooks told reporters that Yearwood called Carter a “quiet warrior.”
“What she says is very quiet, yet very powerful,” Brooks told reporters, “and what she taught Miss Yearwood — what she teaches us all — is the lion doesn’t have to roar, and the statement doesn’t have to be more than a few words to get your point across. She was great at that, and everyone loved her for that.”
In 2021, Brooks and Yearwood honored the Carters’ 75th wedding anniversary by gifting them with a fully restored red 1946 convertible, which was made the same year the Carters wed.
Watch Brooks and Yearwood’s “Imagine” cover at the memorial service below:
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