By Kayla DeKraker
Gary Sinise’s son Mac tragically died after a cancer battle last year, and the actor wants to keep his legacy alive by sharing his story and music.
“The way he dealt with it was just pure grace and courage. He knew from the beginning that he had an uphill battle to fight. If he wasn’t in pain or sick from the treatment, he was trying to live,” Sinise told PEOPLE of Mac’s battle.
In 2018, Mac was diagnosed with chordoma, “a rare type of cancer that occurs in the bones of the skull base and spine. It is diagnosed in just 1 in 1 million people every year.” He could have had the cancer for many years before it was found.
Sinise continued, “You wouldn’t know that he was going through all that by his attitude and the way he was dealing with it.”
As Mac grew sicker, he and his friend Oliver Schnee decided to record and produce his music.
“He had a piece of music that he wrote at USC that he never finished, and he asked me if I thought some of my band members who he was very good friends with…if they would help him flesh this music out,” Sinise explained.
“By July of 2023 they were in a studio with an orchestra recording this piece called ‘Arctic Circles,’ a very, very moving piece.”
The Sinise family decided that California life wasn’t for them any more and moved to Nashville that September.
Mac and Oliver continued working on his music.
“They finished the record up in December, and at the end of December ,we had a party, and we watched the new videos and listened to the music,” Sinise recalled. “Mac was he was struggling, but he was happy, and two days later, I had to take him to the hospital.”
“He finished what he wanted to,” Sinise said.
Just a few days later, on Jan. 5, 2024, Mac died.
Related: Gary Sinise Remembers Son Mac After His Death: ‘Proud to be His Dad’
“I know Mac was at peace at the end. He was graceful in accepting what was happening to him, and I saw him smile a whole bunch in the hospital,” Sinise said of his son.
After Mac died, Sinise found something on his computer: unproduced music. Sinise made it his goal to release the rest of his son’s music.
“Within weeks of Mac dying, I’m on a mission, you know, I’m just like tunneling into this project. His first record is called Resurrection and Revival, and then I produced Resurrection Revival Part Two, which is all Mac’s music.”
On Mac’s birthday, Sinise released the record in his son’s honor.
Thanks to his dad, Mac’s legacy lives on, and his story is a reminder that nothing can stop you from accomplishing your dreams. Part One and Two of his albums are available at the Gray Sinise Foundation website.
Read Next: Gary Sinise Announces Completion of Late Son’s Musical Project
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