Predators Organist Honors Marshall County Shooting Victims

NASHVILLE, TN -- It's a Nashville Predators tradition that organist Kyle Hankins -- better known as Krazy Kyle to the hooting and hollering gold-wearing denizens of Bridgestone Arena -- plays a special tune during pregame festivities at 501 Broadway.

Hankins' pre-puck-drop performances offer a chance for a little virtuosity beyond the standard in-game fare of "Charge" and the like and those songs are often little Easter eggs as fans work to figure out why Kyle picked a particular song on a particular night. Frequently, these special tunes are seasonal selections - Christmas songs in December, love songs in February - or pay tribute to a recently passed musician.

Ahead of Tuesday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Hankins dazzled with a note-perfect rendition of Warrant's 1989 smash "Heaven." The choice was an unusual one. A nearly 30-year-old power ballad isn't exactly the kind of get-amped tune fans have come to expect. Nevertheless, this may have been Hankins' most special - and most perfect - song choice in the 15 years he's spent behind the keys.

The song, with its repeated reminder that heaven isn't too far away, was a request from the father of Bailey Holt, the 15-year-old Marshall County, Ky. High School sophomore who was killed, along with 14-year-old Preston Cope, in a shooting at the school Jan. 23.

Video of Kyle's performance is available from WKRN.

Image via Kyle Hankins, used with permission