8 February 2018

A personal song about victims of sexual abuse was shared by Vince Gill at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville during this week’s Country Radio Seminar.   The country music star and 21-time Grammy Award winner was sexually abused while he was in 7th grade, but has not spoken about the incident until now. “I had a gym teacher that acted inappropriately towards me and was trying to do things that I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I was just fortunate that I got up and I ran. I just jumped up and I ran,”  Gill told the audience. “I don’t know why. I don’t think I ever told anybody my whole life. What’s been going on has given me a little bit of courage to speak up too.”   Gill showed further solidarity with other sexual abuse victims when he joined the #MeToo movement on.   ‘Forever Changed’ speaks about sexual assault with the lyrics, ““You put your hands where they don’t belong / And now her innocence is dead and gone/She feels dirty, she feels ashamed / Because of you she’s forever changed.”   Addressing the Ryman Auditorium, Gill said, “We’re living in a time right now when finally people are having the courage to speak out about being abused.”   On Tuesday, Gill played an acoustic version of the song.