Country music star Scotty McCreery is facing an unimaginable loss: both of his beloved grandmothers passed away just hours apart on July 9, 2025. The weight of that grief became painfully clear the next day when he took the stage and performed his chart-topping hit, “Five More Minutes,” struggling to hold back tears as he sang.

A Double Family Tragedy

On July 10, Scotty shared his heartbreak with fans in a candid message:

“My heart is absolutely broken. Yesterday, both my Grandma Janet and my Grandma Paquita passed away
 I’m choosing to remember the great memories we all made with both of them.”

He posted a tender photograph of the two women standing beside him and his wife, Gabi, on their wedding day in 2018. The couple, who have a two-year-old son, Avery, are also expecting their second child.

How They Passed

Scotty’s mother, Judy McCreery, revealed that Grandma Janet succumbed shortly after 1:00 PM to complications from norovirus, the flu, and pneumonia at age 85. Just three hours later, his paternal grandmother, Paquita, who had been in declining health, passed away at age 93. Paquita endeared herself to millions when she appeared on Celebrity Family Feud in 2018, charming host Steve Harvey and viewers alike with her playful wit.

Honoring a Promise: The Ohio Concert

Despite his profound sorrow, Scotty honored his commitment to perform at the Country Concert Festival in Fort Loramie, Ohio, on July 10. As he began “Five More Minutes”—a song he co-wrote after losing his grandfather—his emotions overwhelmed him. Viewers saw him choke up, pause mid-lyric, and draw strength from the gentle support of the audience, many of whom knew of his family’s tragedy.

The Story Behind “Five More Minutes”

Co-written in 2015 with Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell just two weeks after his grandfather’s death, “Five More Minutes” captures the raw longing for a few extra moments with loved ones. Scotty once reflected:

“There are still a few things I wish I could have said to him and things I wish I could have done again with him.”

The song debuted at the Grand Ole Opry in 2016 and earned Scotty his first #1 single in 2017. Its video features home footage from his childhood, a tribute to the men who shaped his life.

Now, as he mourns both grandmothers, the lyrics carry an even deeper resonance—reminding us all of the preciousness of time spent with family.

Screenshots of Love and Support

@mattrickkkk
Scotty singing Five More Minutes tonight at country concert was saddening, heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time! Prayers for Scotty’s family during this hard time

#countryconcert
@Country Concert ‘25 @Scotty McCreery
♬ original sound – mattrickkkk

Fans Rally Around Scotty

The video of Scotty’s emotional performance spread quickly online. Fans flooded social media with messages of love, admiration, and prayers, celebrating his courage in sharing such a vulnerable moment onstage.

A Song That Speaks to Us All

“Five More Minutes” has always been an anthem for anyone who’s ever wished for more time with someone they cherish. In this moment, Scotty McCreery’s song becomes a universal reminder of gratitude, love, and the fragile beauty of life. Our hearts go out to Scotty, Gabi, little Avery, Judy, and the entire McCreery family as they honor the legacies of Janet and Paquita—two remarkable women who will forever live on in their memories and in the music that brings us together.

Related Post

You Missed

30 MILLION ALBUMS SOLD, AND THE GRAMMYS STILL WON’T CALL HIS NAME.Kenny Chesney has been nominated six times. Six. He’s watched other artists walk up to that podium while he sat in the same seat, same suit, same polite clap. Zero wins.And here’s the thing that gets me — this is someone who won Entertainer of the Year four times at the CMAs. Four. Who outsold almost every country artist in the 2000s except Toby Keith. Who filled stadiums so consistently that they started calling his fan base “No Shoes Nation” like it was a real place on a map.But the Grammy voters? Nothing.His best shot might’ve been 2012. “You and Tequila” with Grace Potter — a song that songwriters in Nashville still talk about when they talk about perfect lyrics. It lost to The Civil Wars. A duo that broke up not long after.What really sticks with me, though, isn’t the Grammy drought. It’s what happened in 2002.A songwriter named Craig Wiseman was writing songs in a Nashville studio when he found out the security guard there — a guy named Rusty Martin — had lost his wife to cancer. That detail sat in the room like a weight nobody could lift. Wiseman and his co-writer Jim Collins wrote “The Good Stuff” that same day.Kenny recorded it. The song went to #1 and stayed there for seven weeks. Billboard named it the biggest country single of the entire year.But the part nobody expects: when the song hit #1, Wiseman contacted the funeral home where Rusty’s wife was buried. He had a matching footstone made and engraved it with “The Good Stuff.” Then he gave it to Rusty at the #1 party.Everybody in the room cried.That’s the kind of record Kenny Chesney’s career is built on. Not tricks. Not gimmicks. Real stories that came from real people who were sitting right there when the grief was still fresh.In 2025, the Country Music Hall of Fame finally opened the door for him. The one institution that looks at the full picture — the songs, the tours, the decades — said yes.The Grammys still haven’t.There’s a detail about that 2012 Grammy night — what Kenny said to Grace Potter backstage after they lost — that tells you everything about who this man actually is.Kenny Chesney built a career on songs about what matters when the noise stops. So why does the one award show that’s supposed to care about music keep turning the volume down on him?