A Michigan nurse who gained online fame by singing to her coworkers during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic will perform "Amazing Grace" Tuesday night at a nationwide COVID-19 memorial in Washington, D.C. attended by president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris.
Lori Key captivated her coworkers at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, Michigan in April she sang "Amazing Grace" ahead of another bleak day treating COVID-19 patients. Video of her performance was shared online and viewed by millions of people.
Now, Key will sing at a national memorial for the 400,000 people in American who have died from COVID-19.
“To be a part of something of history, I’m just so humbled,” Key said.
The Detroit woman will be part of a nationwide memorial as the nation remembers those who’ve lost their lives to the coronavirus.
“It’s going to be very emotional," she said. "I’m going to feel a lot of emotions. Fear, when we didn’t know if our patient was going to make it through our shift, love and compassion of us working together with our health care workers and just those two alone."
The memorial will include 400 lights around the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool to honor American lives lost. Key says it’s an honor to sing and pay tribute to the people we lost to this deadly virus.
“I hope that what I did before last year, I can do again this year where we can kind of come out of that depression that we all still might be going through, especially those who’ve lost loved ones to COVID-19," she said. "We need something to help cope for us, and I believe prayer and God and music, really helps bring your mindset up."
Key is hoping her voice will bring some calm, and people will think about those who lost their lives. She also hopes her performance will inspire Americans to love one another and bring an end to the pandemic.
“I hope that with this year that we can kind of keep that song in the back of our heads when we’re having a bad day, and bring that forward so we can get through whatever comes at us in life,” Key said.
The national memorial begins at 5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
This story was originally published by Alan Campbell on WXYZ in Detroit.