Cole Swindell pays tribute to late mother with heartfelt 'You Should Be Here' performance

By Cillea Houghton

Cole Swindell brought the crowd to a standstill over the weekend with a tribute performance to his late mother.

Days before the Saturday show at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, Swindell's mother, Carol Rainey, died.

The country singer dedicated his performance of "You Should Be Here" in her honor, telling the crowd that he made the effort to be at the show rather than take the weekend off like headliner Thomas Rhett suggested.

"I’m not the only one whose ever lost someone I love," he said while introducing the song. "I think we all have someone we wish was here tonight, and I will always have a special connection with all of you in this whole area because I will never forget the day sitting in the parking lot at Gillette Stadium writing this song right here."

He went on, "I wrote it after losing my Dad, y’all, and your stories have inspired me. They keep me going and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for y’all, but on Monday I lost my Mom -- I’m sure a lot of you have heard."

He then shared why he decided to go ahead with the performance after her loss.

"Thomas Rhett said, 'Hey man, take the weekend off, go to our beach house, just relax.' And I said, 'There’s no way I’m missing being up here, being in front of a crowd like this. These people have had my back since day one.'"

"And I can promise you, my momma wouldn't want me sitting at home," Swindell continued, eliciting cheers from the audience. "She would want me on stage in front of a crowd like this -- people who care, people who matter."

"Wow, it looks like heaven," he marveled as the crowd lit up their cellphones and held them in the air for anyone they've lost.

Swindell wrote "You Should Be Here," which became a No. 1 country hit, as a tribute to his late father.

He continues on the road as part of Thomas Rhett's Center Point Road Tour through October.