It was hot in Glendale on September 21. Like, Arizona-in-September hot. But that didn't stop nearly 100,000 people from packing into State Farm Stadium. They weren't there for a Cardinals game or a concert tour. They were there to say goodbye to a 31-year-old who had become a titan of the conservative movement. The charlie kirk memorial service music wasn't just a background track; it was the heartbeat of an event that felt more like a massive Christian revival than a standard funeral.
Honestly, the atmosphere was surreal. You had the President of the United States, Donald Trump, sitting next to Elon Musk. You had the entire MAGA heavyweight class—JD Vance, Tucker Carlson, Marco Rubio—all gathered under one roof. But before any of them spoke, the music set the stage. It wasn't somber hymns or slow dirges. It was high-energy, stadium-grade contemporary worship music that blurred the lines between a political rally and a Sunday morning at a megachurch.
The Sound of a Movement: A Musical Breakdown
If you've ever been to a Turning Point USA event, you know they don't do "quiet." The memorial service for Charlie Kirk followed that same playbook. The planners didn't go for a traditional organist. Instead, they brought in the biggest names in the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) world.
We’re talking about a lineup that would headline any major Christian festival:
- Chris Tomlin
- Brandon Lake
- Phil Wickham
- Kari Jobe
- Cody Carnes
These artists didn't just play a song and sit down. They led what many attendees described as "hours" of worship before the formal program even began. People were standing with their hands raised. Some were crying. Others were singing along at the top of their lungs to "Holy Forever" and "How Great Is Our God."
The choice of Chris Tomlin to lead "How Great Is Our God" was particularly pointed. It’s a song about sovereignty—the idea that God is in control even when things feel chaotic. Given that Kirk had been assassinated just eleven days prior on the campus of Utah Valley University, that message hit home for the crowd. It wasn't just music; it was a collective attempt to process a tragedy that had shocked the nation.
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Why the Song "The Blessing" Mattered So Much
One of the most emotional moments involved Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes performing "The Blessing." If you aren't familiar, the lyrics are basically a prayer: "The Lord bless you and keep you..." When they sang this, the focus shifted toward Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow. She had just taken the stage to announce she would be stepping into a leadership role at TPUSA. Seeing her stand there while that specific song played—a song about legacy and "a thousand generations"—was a heavy moment. It transformed the charlie kirk memorial service music from a performance into a literal prayer for the family left behind.
Politics and Praise: A Complicated Mix
Not everyone saw the musical choices as purely religious. Critics and some news outlets, like the BBC, noted that the whole setup felt a lot like a Billy Graham crusade from the 1950s, but with a 2026 digital-age polish.
Basically, the music served as a bridge. It connected the "warrior" rhetoric used by speakers like Pete Hegseth—who called Kirk a soldier for Christ and the U.S.—with the softer, more emotional side of the mourning process. When Lee Greenwood performed "God Bless the U.S.A.," the transition from worship to patriotism was seamless. You couldn't tell where the "church" part ended and the "political" part started.
Is that a bad thing? Depends on who you ask. For the people in the stadium, it was exactly what they needed. They weren't looking for a detached, formal ceremony. They wanted something that felt as loud and bold as Kirk’s own life.
The Surprising Omissions
Interestingly, there were no "secular" hits. Despite Kirk’s love for debating culture and his deep involvement in the business and tech worlds, the playlist was strictly faith-based and patriotic. There was no pop music, no classical requiems. It was a clear signal of how TPUSA and the Kirk family wanted his legacy defined: as a Christian martyr for the conservative cause.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Service
A lot of the online chatter suggests the music was just "filler" while waiting for Trump to arrive. That’s actually not true. The music was carefully curated to build a specific emotional arc.
- The Entry Phase: High-energy worship to unify the crowd and burn off the nervous energy of the high-security environment (remember, security was at Super Bowl levels).
- The Memorial Phase: Slower, more intimate songs like "Run to the Father" by Cody Carnes during the video tributes.
- The Call to Action: Patriotic anthems that led directly into the heavy-hitting political speeches.
By the time President Trump took the stage as the final speaker, the crowd had been through a three-hour emotional workout. The music had done its job. It had turned a group of 90,000 grieving individuals into a unified "army," as Stephen Miller put it during his eulogy.
Lessons from the State Farm Stadium Event
If you’re looking at this from a cultural or event-planning perspective, the charlie kirk memorial service music offers a few insights into where the country is headed.
- The Convergence of Faith and Platform: The days of keeping "church music" out of political spaces are long gone. In 2026, they are one and the same for this demographic.
- The Power of Familiarity: Using songs like "How Great Thou Art" (performed by the full ensemble including Tiffany Hudson) provided a sense of stability. In a moment of national crisis and "deepening division," these old-school lyrics acted as a comfort food of sorts.
- The Identity of the "New Right": The music highlighted a shift. This wasn't the country-club Republicanism of the 90s. This was something younger, more charismatic, and much more comfortable with evangelical aesthetics.
Honestly, the sheer scale of the musical production was a feat in itself. To get Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham on the same stage on short notice requires a massive logistical engine. It shows just how much capital—both financial and social—the movement still carries even after losing its founder.
Moving Forward: The Legacy of the Sound
So, what does this mean for the future of TPUSA and the "American Comeback Tour"?
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Well, the music didn't stop in Glendale. Since the memorial, there’s been a massive surge in campus chapter requests—over 54,000 in a single week. The "worship-style" event format is now being mirrored in local vigils and TPUSA Faith chapters across the country. The soundtrack of the memorial has essentially become the soundtrack of the movement's next chapter.
If you’re trying to understand the impact of that day, don't just read the transcripts of the speeches. Go listen to the setlist. Listen to the way 90,000 people sounded singing "Holy Forever" in an NFL stadium. That’s where the real story is.
Actionable Insights for Observing Cultural Shifts
- Watch the Artists: Keep an eye on the CCM artists who performed. Their involvement marks a definitive stance in the "culture wars" that will likely influence their future tours and labels.
- Analyze the Event Format: Future political memorials will likely adopt this "revival" format. It's more effective at building long-term loyalty than a standard black-tie funeral.
- Monitor the Legal Fallout: As seen with the Texas teachers union lawsuits, the emotional resonance of this service (and the reactions to it) is creating a long tail of legal and social conflict in schools and workplaces.
The music played in that stadium wasn't just a goodbye; it was a loud, amplified declaration of what comes next.
Next Steps: You can look up the "Charlie Kirk Memorial Setlist" on Spotify or YouTube to hear the exact versions of the songs performed by Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham. Analyzing the lyrics of "The Blessing" alongside Erika Kirk's speech provides a clearer picture of the organization's new direction.