Cole Swindell returned to the stage after announcing the death of his mother last week.

Cole, who is on tour with Thomas Rhett, paid tribute to his mom, Betty Carol Rainey, in Boston on Saturday night (Sept. 18).

The singer told the crowd that Thomas offered to give him the night off but he said his mother would want him to play.

“There’s no way I’m missing being up here in front of a crowd like this. These people have had my back since Day 1,” Cole says in the video below. “She would want me on stage in front of a crowd like this. People who care. People who matter.”

Cole asked fans to hold up their phones to pay tribute to the loved ones we have lost before singing “You Should Be Here.”