Alex Warren on Losing His Parents and How Music Saved Him | TIME

Alex Warren opened his toast by sharing a story: when he was 7 years old, he climbed a tall tree and shouted down to his father, who was at the bottom and was prepared to catch him: “What if I fall?”

“Without hesitation, he responds, ‘What if you fly?’” Warren recalled. “That was my dad. He was always so quick to instill hope and question what you thought was impossible. My dad was a superhero, and I wanted to impress him. I performed talent shows in our living room, singing my heart out. No matter what lyrics I sang, wrong strings I would play, you couldn’t hear them over the cheers of a proud father.”

Warren said that he practiced performing every day, hoping to one day achieve his dreams of being a singer.

“I was too busy trying to show my dad how high I could fly that when I finally looked down, he wasn’t there to catch me,” Warren said. “I was 9 years old when I woke up to my mom asking me if I wanted to say goodbye to my dad, and the room that was filled with music and cheer the days prior was taken up by the deafening sound of silence.”

Growing up, Warren recalled being surrounded by people but feeling “so alone” much of the time. Music brought him comfort, he said, as he found people who listened to and appreciated his own work.

“I was never really alone, and now every night, no matter what lyrics I sing or wrong strings I play on my guitar, millions of people around the world are screaming these songs loud enough for anyone we have lost to hear,” he said. “So let’s raise our glass … and toast, but not to flying, but having someone there to catch you if you fall.”

0:00 Alex Warren Remembers His Father's Inspiring Words
0:51 Alex Warren Opens Up About Losing His Dad at Age 9
1:16 Finding Hope Through Music, Homelessness and Social Media
1:31 How Alex Warren's Music Keeps His Parents' Memory Alive
1:54 Alex Warren's Emotional TIME100 Next Gala Toast