Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood performed a rendition of “Imagine” during a moving moment at the national funeral service for former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9.
The married country music stars donned black ensembles to perform the John Lennon-penned ballad, which they previously sang at the tribute service for Carter’s late wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in November 2023.
Though Yearwood sang the song’s verses in 2023, Brooks handled the bulk of the song’s lyrics for the former president’s funeral. Together, the couple harmonized on the song’s uplifting chorus, which imagines a peaceful world whose citizens live in harmony “as one.”
The Cartersโ children, along with President Joe Biden and all the living former (and future) U.S. presidents โ Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump โย sat in the cathedral’s pews as the duo sang.
When the couple finished their rendition, Brooks stepped over to Yearwood and kissed her on the cheek.
Brooks and Yearwoodโs performance marked a high-profile appearance for the pair after a former employee of Brooks filed a lawsuit in October 2024 alleging that Brooks had sexually assaulted and batteredย her. (He addressed the lawsuit days after it was filed, saying in a fan chat: โThis thing is on, itโs gonna happen, and people are telling me it could be up to two years. OK? So, my suggestion is, well, take a deep breath, we all just kind of settle in and letโs hold hands and take the trip together, because it is something that you cannot talk about. Thatโs all we can say about it.โ)
Jimmy Carter died Dec. 29 at his Plains, Georgia, home at age 100 after nearly two years in hospice care. His wife of of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, died at home on Nov. 19, 2023.
The late couple’s love story has served as an inspiration to admirers. The Carters, who shared four children, were the longest-married couple in presidential history.
Brooks and Yearwoodย previously toldย Theย Associated Pressย that they came to know the Carters while doing volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity.
During a Nov. 20, 2023, press conference following Rosalynn Carter’s death, Brooks said Jimmy Carter had called Yearwood โhis second-favorite Georgia peach.โ
Brooks and Yearwood celebrated the former presidentโs 100th birthdayย at a 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project event in St. Paul, Minnesota, last fall.
โHe definitely wants to know that weโre working and this is why weโre here. He has a legacy of service and he never stopped serving,โย Yearwood told People at the time.
โHeโs not physically standing here building, swinging a hammer, but we feel his presence and Ms. Rosalynnโs presence strongly,” Yearwood added. “Weโre just two volunteers, but everybody whoโs on this site feels that responsibility to make them proud.”
