Eric Church and Luke Combs held a benefit concert over the weekend for Hurricane Helene victims.
Titled Concert for Carolina, the two superstar singers gathered many of their friends and colleagues to put on a show to raise money for the victims of the devastating Hurricane Helene, which affected many states, but none more so than North Carolina.
Both singers are from North Carolina, so it made sense that they would come together to do something for their home state.
Church and Combs performed at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, for over 80,000 fans, along with Billy Strings, James Taylor, Scotty McCreery, and more!
Days before the concert, both stars sat down with Fox & Friends to promote the show and explain why they were putting on a concert of this magnitude, which usually takes months to plan, in just a few weeks.
“This is the place that I grew up, and these are the people that I grew up around, and they’re tough people,” Combs said. “And I know that they’ll get through this. And I just want to be able to help, me and Eric want to be able to help in ways that were useful at doing so.”
“I called him straight away day after [Hurricane Helene] and was like, hey, I’m going to do whatever it takes to put this show together,” the “When It Rains It Pours” singer continued. “He really did a great job reaching out to a lot of folks and as in my team to make this happen. A lot of people stepped up to help. And, for that…I’m forever grateful.”
Church added that North Carolina’s close-knit communities are leaning on support from across the country, as the widespread impact around the state limits their ability to fully help each other. He described the residents of western North Carolina as resilient, but emphasized that recovery will take time, explaining that this isn’t something that can be resolved quickly, and that it may take years for these communities to fully recover.
The “Record Year” singer said, “The people here are going to need more than a month or two,” Church added. “So the more light we can shed on this community and rebuilding this community, the better off we’re going to be.”
The concert was a huge success and raised over $24 million for Hurricane Helene victims!
Eric Church performed “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of his set.
Church played over 20 songs during the incredible night, which Combs called “the night I am most proud of in my career.”
One of those songs was a song he normally does not perform, “Sweet Caroline.”
The set list was chosen to honor North Carolina is as many ways as they could. Scotty McCreery performed his song “Carolina To Me,” Chase Rice sang his tune “Carolina Can,” Parmalee performed “Carolina,” and James Taylor sang “Carolina In My Mind.”
Church and Combs closed out the night with a duet performance of Church’s song “Carolina.”
Church began the song strumming by himself before diving into the first verse. Immediately, fans knew what song he was playing and began cheering. They joined him during the iconic chorus, too!
Watch Eric Church perform “Sweet Caroline” below.