MARION COUNTY, TN. (THECOUNT) — Willie Spence, an American Idol season 19 finalist, has been identified as the victim in a fatal crash Tuesday in Marion County, Tennessee.
According to reports, Spence was operating a Jeep Cherokee, when for unknown reasons, the vehicle exited the roadway and came into contact with a semi-tractor stopped on the shoulder around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
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Spence, 23, was killed in the crash.
The semi driver was uninjured.
A few hours before the tragic accident, Spence posted an Instagram video of himself in a car while in Nashville, belting out the worship song “You Are My Hiding Place.” In the caption, Spence simply wrote, “Lord you are my hiding place” and added two emojis — a microphone and the eyes-welling-with-tears face, reports heavy.
Spence sang the entire song, written in 1981 by Michael Ledner, about putting one’s faith in God:
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You,
I will trust in You;
Let the weak say I am strong in the strength of my Lord.
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You,
I will trust in You;
Let the weak say I am strong in the strength of the Lord.
In the year since he placed second on “American Idol,” just behind country singer Chayce Beckham, Spence had been enjoying his growing success as a gospel singer. He released his first album in 2021, appeared on the “Idol” reunion show in May 2022, and was performing various gigs around the U.S. with others planned in the U.K.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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Geo quick facts: Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,237. Its county seat is Jasper. Marion County is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Marion County is in the Central time zone, while Chattanooga proper is in the Eastern time zone – Wikipedia.