Tonight, under the soft glow of the stage lights at the Ryman Auditorium, history held its breath. Jimmy Fortune, the last surviving member of the Statler Brothers, walked slowly toward the microphone — guitar in hand, eyes glistening. The same voice that once soared alongside Harold Reid, Don Reid, and Phil Balsley now stood alone, carrying a memory too sacred for words.
He paused, looked out at the crowd, and whispered, “This song used to belong to all of us… now it’s just me… and their memory.”
Then came the first gentle chords of “My Only Love” — a ballad that once brought tears to thousands with its aching harmonies and timeless vow of devotion. But tonight, stripped down to a single voice, it felt different. Deeper. Like the sound of grief learning how to breathe.
Jimmy sang slowly, each lyric trembling with reverence:
You’re my only love, my only love
The sweetest gift life has ever known…
He stopped briefly after the second verse, voice breaking, and quietly said, “Harold always said this was the most honest love song we ever sang. Tonight, I sing it for him… and for every voice that’s no longer here.”
The audience sat in total silence, many wiping away tears. It wasn’t just nostalgia — it was mourning wrapped in music. The harmony they all remembered was gone, but somehow, in Jimmy’s voice, it lived again for one more night.
As the final line faded — You’re my only love… — Jimmy looked skyward, placed his hand over his heart, and whispered, “I miss you, brothers.”
Then he quietly walked offstage. No curtain call. No encore. Just one voice, carrying the weight of a lifetime.
“My Only Love” wasn’t just a song tonight — it was a eulogy. And in Jimmy Fortune’s trembling voice, every note became a prayer, echoing through time for the ones who once sang beside him and now wait on the far side of forever.
