Nearly two decades after first visiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® where he was immediately inspired to pledge his support, three-time GRAMMY Award-winner Darius Rucker continues to give back. With this year’s 16th annual “Darius and Friends” benefit concert sold out well in advance despite the surprise guests not being revealed until they took the stage, the unofficial kickoff to CMA Fest featured dozens of hit songs, unreleased music and beloved covers by Rucker and his friends Tyler Braden, Luke Bryan, Kashus Culpepper, Lanie Gardner, Morgan Wallen and Austin Williams.
“Every time I visit St. Jude, I’m blown away. You walk in expecting it to feel heavy, but there’s so much joy, so much hope,” shared Rucker following the event yesterday, June 2. “The work they’re doing – the research, the breakthroughs – it’s incredible. But what gets me every time is knowing that families never get a bill. Not for treatment, travel, housing or food. That kind of support changes everything for these families, and I’m proud that me and my friends here tonight can be part of that.”
After a live auction and donation round, which added thousands to the night’s fundraising tally, Rucker kicked off the main event with a newly written song plus a duo of fan favorite hits; his 10th and most recent No. 1 single “Beers and Sunshine” plus “Radio.” He then introduced the first friend of the evening, with rising star Austin Williams – who will join Rucker on tour this fall – taking the stage to perform his popular “90s Rap Mashup” as well as his latest single, “Crazy Over You.”
Recent Billboard Country Rookie of the Month Kashus Culpepper – also set to tour with Rucker this fall – received a standing ovation from the packed house for a set featuring his own “Southern Man” and “Pour Me Out” as well as a rousing cover of The Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See.” Appalachian singer-songwriter Lanie Gardner added heartfelt performances of “Six Feet Deep” and “Cry” as well as “Takin’ The Slow Ride” off her forthcoming EP Polaroids arriving this Friday, June 6.
As is customary at the annual event, Rucker also returned to the stage between each guest set, treating fans to hits ranging from his Country Airplay No. 1s “Alright,” “For The First Time” and “Come Back Song” to unreleased previews plus Hootie & the Blowfish hits “Hold My Hand” and “Only Wanna Be With You.”
“If you guys will let us,” the multi-genre star said mid-way through the evening, “me and the band would like to take us to a place we like to call the ‘90s,” as he branched out from his own catalog for crowd-pleasing covers of Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It,” TLC’s “Waterfalls” and Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison,” also adding his take on “Valerie” as made popular by Amy Winehouse later in the evening.
Country-rock standout Tyler Braden – another of Rucker’s tourmates this fall – added to the festivities with Platinum-certified breakout “Devil You Know” and the introspective “Right on Track” off his recent full-length debut devil and a prayer, plus his take on Kings of Leon’s hit “Sex on Fire.” Rucker’s longtime friend and three-time Academy of Country Music / two-time Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan also brought the audience to their feet with his No. 1 hits “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” and “Play It Again” as well as “Country Song Came On,” with his tour of the same name underway now.
“We’ve hosted a charity event at my house for 5 years, and Darius Rucker – I don’t think he’s ever missed one of them,” Bryan shared from the stage. “He’s always supported me when I needed him, and I’m just glad to be here supporting him… 16 YEARS!”
The final guest of the evening gave fans at the Mother Church a rare chance to see him outside of a stadium setting, with global superstar Morgan Wallen bringing recent release “20 Cigarettes” and 6x Platinum “More Than My Hometown” to the intimate venue at a time when all 37 tracks off his latest record-shattering album, I’m The Problem, appear on the Hot Country Songs chart, occupying nearly 75% of the list in its entirety and beating his own record of 35 songs set in 2023.
“I met this kid 5 or 6 years ago at a friend’s house, and he was playing songs that blew my mind. He’s become a superstar. He’s a good friend of mine; he’s my brother,” Rucker shared when introducing Wallen, who added, “It’s an honor and a privilege to be here tonight… Thank you, Darius, for having us.”
Closing out the memorable evening, the host of the night owned the stage one final time as the show ended according to tradition, with Rucker joined by the sold-out Ryman crowd plus Culpepper, Gardner and Williams for a “Wagon Wheel” singalong, the feel-good energy throughout the auditorium symbolic of the night as a whole.
This year’s milestone fundraising event adds yet another successful page to the decade-plus history of “Darius and Friends.” Prior guests have included Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, John Daly, Dan + Shay, Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Jelly Roll, Charles Kelley of Lady A, Ashley McBryde, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys, Megan Moroney, Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers and Tommy Thayer of KISS, among many others.
In addition to yesterday evening’s concert, celebrity friends Drew Baldridge, Priscilla Block, Tyler Braden, NFL Pro Bowler Randall Cobb, Travis Denning, Hannah Ellis, Walker Hayes, NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, Tracy Lawrence, Bryce Leatherwood, Vincent Mason, Drake Milligan, Walker Montgomery, John Morgan, Dan + Shay’s Shay Mooney, Restless Road’s Garrett Nichols & Colton Pack, Eric Paslay, Shane Profitt, Michael Ray, Lily Rose, Schmitty, Matt Stell, Nick Wayne, Mark Wills and Scott Wolverton joined Rucker for the corresponding golf tournament today, June 3, with the total raised across both events adding to the more than $4.3 million raised to date (2025 tally to follow once available).
The annual fundraising event, made possible with support from generous sponsors AMD and The Law Office of Jennifer McCoy, helps ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – so they can focus on helping their child live.
This year’s “Darius and Friends” event adds to an exciting season for the multi-time Diamond-certified superstar, who is actively working on new music ahead of his Nissan Stadium CMA Fest performance this Thursday, June 5, and his Darius Rucker Live tour kicking off in July. Tickets are on sale now HERE.
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