Earlier this week, Darius Rucker once again brought his Darius & Friends event to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, enlisting a lineup of stars to help him raise funds to benefit a good cause.

The annual pre-CMA Fest concert benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its lifesaving mission to end childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases. In 2022, the event raised an all-time high amount of money to benefit St. Jude, bringing in $516,000.

Darius described this year’s lineup as “ladies’ night” before kicking off an all-star roster of performances from Sheryl Crow, Lindsay Ell, Sara Evans, Caylee Hammack and Rachel Wammack. The event also featured an onstage appearance from Addie, a St. Jude alumna and cancer survivor who has been in remission from leukemia for five years.

The event sold out the Ryman, and also featured a live auction and donation round, which added thousands to the fundraising total.

Not only did Darius’ event bring in more money than any one single Darius & Friends show ever before, it also pushed his cumulative total over a major milestone. Now in its 13th year, the event has raised over $3 million in total for St. Jude.

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