Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood — longtime friends of the Carters — honored late President Jimmy Carter at his funeral.
The country singers played a rendition of “Imagine” by John Lennon, a reprise from their tribute to Rosalynn Carter at her funeral in 2023. As Brooks, 62, played the acoustic guitar, he harmonized with wife Yearwood, 60, while the funeral’s choir provided background vocals on the song, one of the late president’s favorites.
The pair sang the peace anthem toward the end of the funeral service, before the congregation recited the Lord’s Prayer.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty
Joe Biden at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Jan. 9, 2025
Brooks and Yearwood’s performance at the funeral was a rare public appearance for the couple since he was accused of sexual assault and rape by a former employee in an October lawsuit. The country legend has vehemently denied the allegations and, in an October statement obtained by PEOPLE, claimed, “I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”
The country icons spent years getting to know Carter and his wife Rosalynn through Habitat for Humanity building projects, and the two couples developed a close friendship.
Months before Carter’s death, Brooks and Yearwood spent the former president’s 100th birthday in St. Paul, Minnesota for the 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Week Project.
“He definitely wants to know that we’re working and this is why we’re here. He has a legacy of service and he never stopped serving,” Yearwood told PEOPLE in October. “He’s not physically standing here building, swinging a hammer, but we feel his presence and Ms. Rosalynn’s presence strongly. We’re just two volunteers, but everybody who’s on this site feels that responsibility to make them proud.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
Related: Jimmy Carter’s Casket Arrives at U.S. Capitol in Horse-Drawn Funeral Procession
John Shearer/Getty
Garth Brooks, Rosalynn Carter, Trisha Yearwood and former President Jimmy Carter in 2015
Yearwood and Brooks previously told PEOPLE they learned a great deal working alongside Carter and his late wife, who died just over a year before her husband on Nov. 19, 2023.
“They’ve inspired us in a lot of ways, in the ways you expect: humanity, humbleness, work ethic. But they’ve also inspired us by their example as husband and wife,” Brooks told PEOPLE in 2023.
Brooks noted that the former president and first lady would “bicker back and forth” and debate the “right way to do things,” a trait that’s manifested in his relationship with Yearwood, he said.
Read the original article on People
