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Tyler Hubbard Dedicates Song to NYC Firefighter Who Lost Father in 9/11

Tyler Hubbard took a moment at a recent show in New York City to honor a Brooklyn firefighter and his late father. As Hubbard explained to the crowd, James Dowdell, who was in the audience, took Hubbard and his family on a tour of the fire station before the show. They also visited the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero. The singer and the firefighter also have something in common: they've both lost their dads. Hubbard explained that Dowdell's father, Lt. Kevin C. Dowdell from Queens, N.Y., made the ultimate sacrifice when responding the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

"I just connected with him," Hubbard told the crowd in a video of the moment. "We only knew each other for a day, but I felt like he was a brother and we could relate. I lost my dad when I was 20, about 15 years ago, and I just related. Your story meant so much to me, and sharing your time and honoring your dad the way that you did. It touched me, man, and it moved me."

Dowdell's story also inspired Hubbard to perform on a song from his recent released self-titled album. The song is called "Miss My Daddy," and it is inspired by the loss of Hubbard's father. The singer admitted he wasn't originally going to play the song, but Dowdell's story inspired him. The performances served as a tribute to both of their dads.

"I wasn't going to play this song tonight. Never really played it, to be honest, in front of a crowd," he says. "But this is a special part of my story as well and this is how I honor my dad, is I wrote a song about him and I wrote a song from the heart about how I felt in the moment and how I feel pretty often."

"Miss My Daddy" was written solely by Hubbard, and it appears on his 18-track debut solo album, released on Jan. 27.

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