Josh Turner is honoring his grandfather, a World War II veteran, with the video for “Unsung Hero,” out now. The song is from Turner’s latest This Country Music Thing album, released in 2024.

“In December 2014, all of the Turner family had a get-together at my uncle’s house,” Turner recalls. “I asked him if he would show me my granddaddy’s medals and papers. When I got to see them, it had a profound effect on me. I was made aware that he was an American hero, and no one really knew about what he had been through. It was clear to me that he was the epitome of an unsung hero. I wrote the song on Aug 27, 2015 as a tribute to him. The fact that it ended up on a record ten years after I had been allowed to see his stuff is mind-blowing to me.

“It’s also an honor to be able to sing about him in this way,” he continues. “Because I feel like there are so many others just like him that we don’t know about or have taken for granted. I’m excited I get to share images of him in the video of this song and that it will be released on Memorial Day. God bless all of our troops and veterans who have made the sacrifices necessary for us to enjoy the freedoms that we have.”

“Unsung Hero” is one of three songs Turner wrote for This Country Music Thing.

“Every album to me just kind of marks these just kind of milestones,” Turner said when the record was released. “It kind of marks certain phases and periods that I went through and different times in my life with family, career, all kinds of different things that we’ve been through and experienced. After a while, when you start looking back and see all the records start piling up and different things that you’ve been able to do through two decades, it’s pretty staggering.”

Turner’s Long Black Train album was released in 2003. More than two decades later, the South Carolina native is still embracing his country music roots.

“Yes this is a traditional country record, but there’s a lot of variety that I think will keep listeners engaged,” Turner told MusicRow of the project. “I always hope that somebody is moved or inspired by my work, and wants to do great things after hearing it, because I remember what it felt like listening to my heroes growing up.”

Family has always been important to Turner. He recently opened up about his marriage to his wife, Jennifer, whom he wed in 2003.

“It took a concerted effort for me to have a successful marriage and career at the same time. Not a lot of people can say that,” Turner tells Holler Country. “I’ve put effort and energy into my career and my marriage and I haven’t neglected either one of those things. It’s made me a tired old man. But I don’t have any regrets.”

Turner will kick off 2026 by performing on the Country Music Cruise, along with Patty Loveless,  Neal McCoy , Randy Owen, Wade Hayes, Shenandoah, T. Graham Brown and more. Find “Unsung Hero” and all of Turner’s music and upcoming shows at JoshTurner.com.