"As country performers, Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons grew the kind of personal and creative vision and connection that even the luckiest artists can only dream of. They were on an impossibly upward trajectory, the brightest burning stars in the sky, when Gram died of an overdose at age 26 in room eight of the Joshua Tree Inn on September 18, 1973. On top of the horror and pain of losing her beloved Gram, gone too was everything they were supposed to create together, a future consisting of night after night together on stage and in the studio making untouchable songs and changing the course of country music. She would’ve been content being Gram’s sidekick on stage until the end of eternity, but now, if she wanted to fulfill their vision and finish what he started, she’d have to do it herself — thrusting her into the solo spotlight in the midst of her grief. To honor Gram and to honor herself, she decided to pick up the pieces and make 'Pieces of the Sky.' She would rewrite country the way Gram had rewritten it for her."