VIDEO: 1.7m views of Cork singer’s emotional video

An emotional song penned by a Cork singer/songwriter has been viewed online by more than 1m people in just a day.

Stephanie Rainey has touched the hearts of almost 2m people with her powerful song, ’Please Don’t Go’, which deals with life after the loss of a loved one.

Download the song here

Stephanie says it is “incredible” that more than 1.7m people have heard and shared her song.

“Honestly, it’s incredible to see the reaction,” she told the Irish Examiner. “The outpouring of honesty from people who are sharing their stories is so special.

“I can’t stress enough that I am blown away. Not only are people sharing it but they’re even writing about their own experiences in the comments section and sending me private messages which is not something I expected. The whole point was to move people, to be honest about loss, and hope that it would inspire people to be more open. It seems to be doing that and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Stephanie was inspired to write the song following the untimely death of her nephew a few years ago. Her brother appears in the video holding a photo of his son, who died from meningitis just a day before his first birthday.

“When I wrote the song it came from a very genuine place,” she says.

“I knew I wanted to make a special video for it — something honest that would give people something genuine to connect to if they were grieving or even just to appreciate the people around them.

“Every time I play this song live I have to fight the tears. It still holds the same meaning for me now that it did when I wrote it.”

Stephanie enlisted the help of a number of people to appear in her music video, including people close to her and some well-known faces. Comedian Cian Twomey, who shared a photo of his late father, says it was “probably the hardest thing I ever had to do”.

Each person shared a photo of a loved one they have lost too soon and revealed the causes of their tragic deaths, which include suicide, cancer, car accidents, and drownings.

“I’m so grateful to the people who took part for their honesty,” says Stephanie.