Luke Combs and Eric Church join fellow country music stars to raise $24M for Hurricane Helene relief

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: Country music legends Eric Church and Luke Combs teamed up with other stars of the genre to help raise a staggering amount of $24 million to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Helene, reported the Daily Caller.

The stars united for their Concert for California on Saturday night, October 26, at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. More than 82,000 fans turned up for the charity event, undeterred by the delay caused by rain.

To help raise the whopping amount, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper donated the stadium, staff, and parking free of charge for the event. Vendors also donated the entire amount raised from concessions, merchandise, and parking, according to the American Songwriter website.

Hurricane Helene ravaged the southeastern states of the US in late September. Among those hit the hardest was North Carolina, where dozens were killed and countless homes and businesses were destroyed.

Music stars come together for Concert for Carolina

While Luke Combs and Eric Church headlined the concert, the event saw performances by country music icons such as Billy Strings, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, The Avett Brothers, James Taylor, and Scotty McCreery.

The setlist began with Church singing the song 'Hallelujah', and ended with an encore of the song 'Carolina'.

Initially slated to begin at 5 pm, the event was delayed for rain until 7 pm. However, the musicians did not cut the concert short, and played for nearly six hours, wrapping up at around 1 am.

Strings performed a cover of 'Train That Carried My Girl from Town', in a tribute to Doc Watson, while Church played a 10-song medley consisting of his childhood influences. The songs performed by Taylor included 'Fire and Rain', 'You've Got a Friend', and 'Carolina in My Mind'.

The crowd also witnessed duets by stars, with Church and Crow performing 'Picture', and Urban and Church recreating their 2013 collaboration 'Raise 'Em Up' on stage.

Eric Church's inspiring message at Concert for Carolina

Eric Church, who headlined the concert with Luke Combs, praised the “strong, independent, proud communities” that make up western North Carolina, in a press conference at the event.

“And I’ve said many times that they’re the exact community that when the community next door is in trouble, you can count on that community to come help you,” he shared.

"And in this situation, there is no community next door. It’s all been destroyed. So, what you’re seeing tonight, is we are the community next door. The people that are in this stadium are the community next door.”