Randy Rogers Remembers Kylie Rae Harris: ‘She Was a Really Bright Shining Light’
Rising Texas country singer Kylie Rae Harris died in a car crash in New Mexico on Wednesday night (Sept. 4), and Randy Rogers is among the artists and fans who have shared memories of the late singer.
Harris was killed in a three-car accident in Taos, N.M., on Wednesday night, following a 12-hour car trip. She was slated to play the Big Barn Music Festival in Taos on Thursday. The singer-songwriter was just 30 years old.
"She was a great person, and she made everybody feel welcomed and loved and cared for. She was a really bright shining light," Rogers tells Taste of Country by phone. "You know, she really was. I remember the first time I heard her sing, I’ll never forget it."
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Harris released her most recent project, a self-titled EP, in March of 2019, and she was reflective about being in a better place in her life when Taste of Country debuted one of the new songs, "Big 'Ol Heartache," in January.
“My twenties weren’t a walk in the park, a lot of that admittedly self-inflicted, but I grew a lot,” Harris said. “This project feels like the close of a real painful chapter and a welcome to whatever is next.”
Harris wrote another song on the EP, the poignant "Twenty Years From Now," for her six-year-old daughter. The haunting song talks of her hopes that someday her daughter might understand the choices she'd made, no matter how they turned out.
“Getting to the age your parents were when you were a child brings a whole lot of perspective,” Harris said. “Parents are people. People make mistakes and being a parent is hard. I’m not always going to make the right choices, but I hope that when my daughter gets older, she’ll see that they were all made with love and the best of intentions.”
The 16-year-old driver of one of the other vehicles involved in Harris' accident also died, while a third driver walked away unscathed. Authorities supect alcohol contributed to the accident, but they have so far offered no further details about the investigation.
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