Darius Rucker helped raise $516,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with his 13th annual “Darius & Friends” benefit concert in front of a sold-out audience at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Monday, June 6.
The “Darius & Friends” shows have now raised over $3 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Reflecting on his first visit to the hospital in 2008, Rucker explained to the sold-out crowd, “I’m talking to one administrator and she said, ‘When you bring your kid to St. Jude, we fly you in, we put you up, we feed you and we never send you a bill.’ I started talking to people there and it’s true. That day I said, I want to do something to help. I’m doing this for St. Jude – thank you guys for coming out!”
“Tonight is ladies’ night!” Rucker declared when kicking off the event, setting the stage for 30 hit songs and beloved covers by Rucker and his friends Sheryl Crow, Lindsay Ell, Sara Evans, Caylee Hammack and Rachel Wammack.
Rucker thrilled the crowd with his Platinum-certified chart-toppers “Alright,” “Come Back Song,” “This” and “For the First Time” followed by his latest release, “Same Beer Different Problem”.
Rucker closed out the annual fundraising event with a rousing cover of Amy Winehouse‘s “Valerie”
The show then ended according to tradition, with Rucker joined by the crowd for a “Wagon Wheel” sing-along.
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