Fast forward to about the five minute mark for the service to start.
The life of Montgomery Gentry member Troy Gentry was honored yesterday at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Those who paid tribute on stage included Charlie Daniels, Trace Adkins, Halfway 2 Hazard, Vince Gill and Little Big Town, who began the service with the "Star Spangled Banner" as a salute to Gentry's patriotism and support of the military.
In addition to Gentry's wife and daughters and musical partner and friend, Eddie Montgomery, mourners in the crowd included Keith Urban, Randy Travis, Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner, Travis Tritt, Randy Owen, Ricky Skaggs, and Michael Ray, who all took turns hugging an emotional Montgomery and offering condolences.
Gentry's white casket was placed in the famous circle on the Opry stage and was surrounded by several personal items, including a guitar, his beloved Batman costume and a Batman projector, along with sprays of flowers and a photo of Gentry performing on the Grand Ole Opry.
Charlie Daniels was among the performers, taking the stage to perform "How Great Thou Art." Beforehand he told the crowd: "The Lord giventh and the Lord taketh away, and I just thank you Lord for letting us have Troy before you took him back."
An emotional Vince Gill closed the service with "Whenever You Come Around," which was requested by Angie Gentry. Gill told the crowd this was the first song that Gentry ever sang for his wife. Gill said: "I'm out here to honor a friend and we're all here because we feel like family and we are family. We came to be friends through the Opry, through the family of the Opry, and that's a powerful family. What I wanted to say more than anything is how much I admired watching Troy and Eddie when they would hit this stage whether it was here or the Ryman, how many people you could tell came just to see them. It was a great telling point about their power and about how important they were. You could feel there was an awful lot of people that came to see them and it was beautiful. I would encourage Eddie -- I don't know where Eddie is -- but I hope you'll lean on this family. It's a good one, and don't disappear. Come out here and let this family love you."
Gentry was killed in helicopter crash in Medford, NJ last Friday (September 8th) at the age of 50.