Morgan Evans Opens Up About Loss Of A Friend Who Inspired 'Important' Lyric

Morgan Evans opened up about losing one of his best friends from high school, and how the loss made a personal lyric feel even more meaningful.

Evans, 41, shared “the story I never told” behind the title track of his latest album, Steel Town, in a clip he shared on Instagram on Sunday (June 14). The singer-songwriter reflected: “Ben was one of my best mates in high school, and he had this old yellow Hilux that we used to get up to mischief in. And I’d never put one of my mate’s names in a song before. I don’t know that I’ve ever put anyone’s name in a song, actually. And I never showed him the song. I was waiting until it came out. And the song came out February 13, and sadly, we lost him in January. So, he never got to hear the song. …It kind of makes it feel even more important now, and you know, I’m glad he’s in there.”

“Rest in peace brother,” Evans wrote in his caption.

The country star, from Newcastle, Australia, included Ben’s name in “Steel Town,” the title track of his studio album that arrived earlier this year. Evans spoke with iHeartCountry about the record, which came to life over a three-year span, and the personal nods to his hometown. He said at the time, “I’ve learned so many lessons making this album. I think you do making every album, but like most great lessons in life, I don’t know that I would’ve understood it or listened if someone told me, so I just had to listen and I just had to learn it, rather. And to be here releasing this album in the place that I’m at in life right now, it feels good. It feels right.”