Meghan Trainor’s father, Gary Trainor, was hospitalized in California on Friday, February 21, after being injured when he was hit by a car while crossing a street, Us Weekly can confirm.
Gary, 71, was walking across a busy street near the San Fernando Valley on Friday night when he was struck by the car. He was transported to a nearby Los Angeles emergency room and is now in a stable condition, Meghan’s rep confirms to Us. Entertainment Tonight reports that the incident happened at 8:15 p.m. and the vehicle and driver remained at the scene, with the Los Angeles Police Department confirming that it was not a hit-and-run incident. TMZ was the first to report the news.
Meghan shared a message on Instagram on Sunday, February 23, thanking fans for their support. “I’m with my dad now,” she captioned a photo of herself with Gary.” Thank you for all your sweet messages. It was all very scary but he is the strongest man I know.”
The “All About That Bass” singer, 26, and her musician father are very close and he helped her write some songs on her 2011 album, Only 17, including “Cupid.”
Gary has also accompanied her as her date to several award shows. He was by her side when she won the Grammy award for Best New Artist in 2016, with the pair both crying as her name was announced.
The “Dear Future Husband” singer later shared a photo on Instagram of herself and her father in tears, captioning the pic, “This is me forever..bawling my eyes out. Can’t believe what happened. My dad whispered ‘you made it’ before I walked up and I lost it. I love my family so much. Without them I wouldn’t be here today. Thank you to my team and everyone who got me here. Gonna cry happy tears all night. AHHHHHH.”
In January, Gary made a surprise appearance on The Voice UK, when his daughter invited him up on stage to play “Shake, Rattle and Roll” on the keyboards while her fellow judge Tom Jones sang.
In a 2016 interview with Billboard, Meghan — who grew up singing in a family band featuring her dad, her aunt Lisa and her younger brother, Justin — credited her father with inspiring her vocal style. “My dad thinks he’s James Brown sometimes,” she said. “He’s very soulful. He’ll just go, ‘How you doing’, baby?’”
