Mitch Rossell was only 10 years old when he woke up in the middle of the night, went downstairs to hear the pain of his mother crying and received the shocking news that his father had died.
“I just started screaming,” Rossell, 35, recalled in a recent interview with PEOPLE. “I just lost it. I can say without a doubt that there is no 10-year-old in this world ever sat or they will they have a better relationship with their father than me. “
Roy Rossell was killed by a drunk driver on the highway in Tellico Plains, Tennessee in the early evening of Jan. 21, 1998. He was 31 years old at the time of his death.
“It just broke my heart,” Rossell says quietly. “It was brutal.”
Doltyn Sneeden Mitch Rossell
And while the pain still feels as fresh as it did that fateful night, Rossell now finds solace in talking about the father she loves.
“He was great,” Rossell says quietly of his late father, who was 21 when the country singer/songwriter was born. “He was righteous therefore the patient is therefore kind, and always loved me therefore very respectful. He is the role model I strive to be as a father. He was amazing. “
So, in 2016, Rossell decided that the time was right to tell a little about his father’s story.
“My first son was 6 months old at the time,” Rossell recalls of the day he sat down with fellow songwriter Dave Turnbull to write the catchy song “Baby.” “Dave had an idea, and in the end it kind of gave me permission to think about that stuff and get it, you know? I don’t think I’d ever been able to do that before. It was so painful. I wrote it, I knew it was special and I knew how it affected every person I played for.”
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However, Rossell says he wasn’t sure he was ready to release the song worldwide, until now.
“It’s so cool and crazy how God works and how music works and the healing that happened to me through this song that I didn’t know I needed,” says Rossell of “Child,” focusing on PEOPLE.
Doltyn Sneeden Mitch Rossell
Of course, the musical tear-jerker would turn into a career-changing hit for Rossell, who has been working to elevate country music with the unwavering support of none other than Garth Brooks.
“Garth heard [‘Son’] early in the morning and he just loves it so much,” says Rossell, who soloed on Brooks’ No. 1 hit, “Ask Me How I Know.”[Brooks’ wife] Trisha [Yearwood] he said the same thing. They just think it’s a very powerful song. In fact, for a long time, they wanted me to release it as soon as possible. I probably he didn’t let me out as soon as they thought I should, but I don’t know. I wanted it to feel good in my gut.”
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Doltyn Sneeden Mitch Rossell
And while Rossell says he’s now confident he’s making the right decision by releasing “Baby,” now, he still wonders if he’ll be able to play the song without any lingering pain.
“It’s scary in some ways to think about doing it all the time,” says Rossell, who received attention after performing “Baby” at his Grand Ole Opry performance in December. “But I feel that I have a responsibility to help people with this song. This is a gift that was given to me, and if I don’t use it to make the people around me better, then I don’t think I’m human. To use it well.”
