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Darius Rucker Duets With Lauren Alaina, Brings Out Jason Aldean and Carter Faith at St. Jude’s Benefit Concert
Darius Rucker just brought his famous friends together for a good cause. Ahead of the official start of CMA Fest, the singer got an early jump on the fun by hosting his 17th annual Darius & Friends concert to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
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The night started off on a charitable note, with audience members bidding on signed guitars, front row tickets to next year’s show, and seat upgrades, raising nearly $70,000. That adds to the impressive $5 million total that Rucker has raised for St. Jude’s throughout the event’s history.
As audience members at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium bid on an online auction featuring trips, experiences, and more, Rucker got the party started. During his initial two-song set, Rucker sang “This” and “For the First Time.”
He then welcomed out Carter Faith, who delighted the crowd with performances of “Bar Star” and “Ain’t Over Me Yet,” before delivering a country-fied cover of Britney Spears’ “Oops!…I Did It Again.”
After Rucker returned to the stage with performances of “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” and “Southern State of Mind,” he invited Mark Wills to the stage.
Darius Rucker’s Famous Friends Take the Stage
Wills’ energetic set got the crowd on their feet, with a covers of Huey Lewis and the News’ “Jacob’s Ladder” and Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight,” as well as a performance of his own track, “19 Somethin’.”
For his next time on stage, Rucker tapped into the Hootie & the Blowfish archives to play “Only Wanna Be with You,” before performing his 2022 track, “Beers and Sunshine.”
The Hootie frontman then performed the only duet of the night, covering Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s “Jackson” with Lauren Alaina.
The American Idol runner up took over next, singing her latest song, “Raining Whiskey,” as well as her first No. 1 hit, “Road Less Traveled.”
Rucker followed that up with performances of “Homegrown Honey” and “Come Back Song,” before tapping Randy Houser to join in on the fun.
Houser did just that, riling the crowd up with “Back in the Bottle,” delighting with a cover of Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time,” and a earning a standing ovation with “Like a Cowboy.”
Rucker returned to the show with performances of “If I Told You” and “Alright,” before Jason Aldean made his way on stage. Aldean played three songs for the crowd, performing “Fly Over States,” “How Far Does A Goodbye Go,” and “Dirt Road Anthem.”
With the audience properly pumped up, Rucker came back for one last set. He got everyone dancing and on their feet with covers of Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It,” TLC’s “Waterfalls,” and Bell Biv DeVoe’s “That Girl Is Poison.”
Rucker wrapped things up with his own tracks, performing “I Believe in Love” and “Wagon Wheel,” and the sold-out crowd left with their wallets a little lighter, and their spirits significantly lifted.
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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