Granger Smith released a single red balloon after singing his song “Heaven Bound Balloons” in tribute to his son River.

In the video from Granger’s family YouTube channel “The Smiths” he shares how he and the family continue to work to move forward after the tragic loss of their son/brother River earlier this summer. He states how he feels music can help you heal and sometimes in ways you don’t see coming.

Prior to River’s death, Granger released the song ‘Heaven Bound Balloons.” That means he wrote it well before he had any idea of the tragedy he and his family would be facing in the future.

Granger even points out in the song he wrote about a dog he had named Rio, “which, ironically, is River in Spanish. I wrote about Rio in that second verse. And so that song became how I thought about River in these past few shows that I’ve played.”

Granger shares how growing up he was influenced by Garth Brooks and learned to love music and songs from him. He shares, “I just figured, we’re here in a stadium and that playing ‘Heaven Bound Balloons’ to a Garth Brooks crowd in this stadium tonight, I knew that was going to mean something to me and it did. To be able to give a little tribute in my own way to Riv was something really special.”

After singing the song “Heaven Bound Balloons” Granger released a red balloon (River’s favorite color) that had his son’s nickname “Riv” written on it along with the message “We Miss You. We Love You.”

Watch the update with video of the special tribute from Ganger Smith to his son River at the top of the page. Watch the video for his song “Heaven Bound Balloons” below.

By: Buck Stevens