Texas country singer Kylie Rae Harris of Wylie, Texas has died after a three-vehicle crash in Taos, New Mexico Wednesday night.
According to the Taos County Sheriff’s Office, three vehicle’s were involved in the crash on State Road 522 Wednesday night. They confirmed that two drivers – 30-year-old Harris and a 16-year-old girl from San Cristobal had died at the scene. The driver of the third vehicle was uninjured in the crash.
“We are heartbroken to confirm that Kylie Rae Harris passed away in a car accident last night,” her publicist told Billboard. “We have no further details to share, and ask for privacy for her family at this time. Everyone that knew Kylie knew how much she loved her family and, beyond that, how much she loved music. The best tribute to her unmatched enthusiasm for both is to spread as much love as you can today, and listen to music that fully inspires you.”
Many musicians, friends and fans are still in shock Thursday after the news broke, posting tributes and heartfelt messages on social media.
“I’m just crushed. Can’t believe it,” said Kevin Fowler.
Pat Green posted, “The music world lost a beautiful, kind, and incredibly talented woman last night….rest in peace Kylie Rae Harris.”
Harris had played several shows in Paris, Texas, over the past few years including Heritage Hall.
“We are completely devastated at Heritage Hall today. One of our favorites and stage alum – Kylie Rae Harris passed away last night. What a talent. Our condolences go out to her family and the rest of the Texas music community. Awful news. Hug your loved ones folks.”
Originally from Wylie, TX near Dallas, her family would regularly take trips into the east Texas pines where she was exposed to the strong songwriting of Texas performers such as Radney Foster and Jerry Jeff Walker, falling in love with the music at an early age. By the age of 12, she professes knowing that music is what she wanted to do with her life after singing in the church choir, and she wrote her first song when she was 14. From there Kylie Rae chose to pursue a career in music head on, for better or worse. It went worse when she fell into an abusive relationship, but she extricated herself from it to become a highly revered songwriter and performer in Texas and beyond.
“Music has always been in me,” Kyle Rae Harris was quoted as saying in one of her early press releases. “I have to do it. This is all or nothing for me. I’m going to be writing and singing music the rest of my life whether I’m broke or not so I might as well go for it.”
With strong songwriting influences such as Walt Wilkins and Patty Griffin, Kylie Rae Harris released her first EP Taking It Back in 2013, putting her on the radar of Texas music that is often criticized for not including enough women. Off the strength of this release, Harris won the 2014 Female Vocalist Of The Year from the Texas Regional Radio Music Awards. Then her career took a pause when she gave birth to her daughter, which also became the inspiration for what many believe was her best song, and one of the best songs released so far in 2019 called “Twenty Years From Now”—a song that is gut-wrenching to listen to now after the news of her passing.
“Twenty Years From Now” appears on Kyle Rae Harris’s most recent, self-titled EP released on March 29th. It came after a period where she moved from Texas to pursue her musical dreams, then moved back to Texas, and was finally finding her place in the music world. She had recently been working with highly-regarded manager Alex Torrez, and was looking to take her career to the next level.
A few hours before Harris passed away, she posted a very touching Instagram story about Taos, NM, and her life. “I’m alright, I look a mess. It’s because I’ve been crying. It’s a good cry. I just got to Taos, NM. But for those of you who don’t know, I spent the last 20 years of my life coming to Taos with my dad, my sisters, my grandparents lived here, my uncle still lives here. Literally everybody that was here has passed away, except for my uncle, including my dad. Driving these roads today—I’ve been driving for 12 hours—you would think that’s so exhausting and boring … And remembering my place in the back seat, and I started getting really sad…”
Kyle Rae Harris is survived by her six-year-old daughter and extended family.
savingcountrymusic.com contributed to this story.
