Darius Rucker Events Raise Another Half A Million For St. Jude

Fifteen years ago, Darius Rucker first visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He was so moved by the organization, and he was immediately inspired to pledge his support. Rucker continues to do so, via his annual benefit concert, "Darius & Friends."  The shows have surpassed the $3.6 million mark with this year's 14th annual "Darius and Friends" benefit concert on Monday night (6/5). The event paired with a corresponding golf tournament and silent auction on Tuesday, June 6. This year's event raised an all-time high of $560,000 for the cause.

Darius said from the stage, "We started this to be the first thing at CMA Fest, and you guys have now made it a tradition. Thank y'all for coming out. Thank you for supporting St. Jude."

The show was sold out well in advance despite the famous friends not being revealed until they took the stage; the guests included HARDY, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, and Vince Gill.

This year's event adds yet another successful page to the decade-plus history of "Darius & Friends." Prior guests have included Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Charles Kelley of Lady A, Ashley McBryde, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys, Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers and Tommy Thayer of KISS, among many others.

The annual fundraising event 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.

Rucker recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the release of his True Believers album by announcing he will now make the record available on vinyl for the first time. In addition to the standard black vinyl available for preorder, 500 commemorative signed color copies are also available via DariusRucker.com.

Darius said, "This album changed so much for me musically and for our live show. As a kid who worked as a clerk in a record store, there's a part of me that has always wanted this album to live on vinyl, so this is a great way to commemorate 10 years of Believers."

Ed Sheeran is the latest pop star to consider a switch to country music, He performed a new song with his buddy Luke Combs at the ACM Awards last week (5/11) in Texas. Over the years, several pop or rock stars have tried their hand at country music.

Sheryl Crow released a country album a few years back. She never left Nashville, living in the community and performing at events and benefits despite the fact that her country music career never really took off. Cyndi Lauper recorded a country album in 2015 and spent some time in Nashville doing interviews. She talked about the country songs she leaned on throughout her life.

In 2013, Kelly Clarkson released a song just for country radio that never really had success called "Tie It Up." It was about getting married. Her marriage to Reba's stepson Brandon Blackstock, which she gushed about in an interview for the song, didn't make it either. They got divorced in 2020.

While many pop and rock stars have tried their hand at country music, only a few really made it all the way to becoming a country star. We wish Ed Sheeran well if he really wants to give country music a try. Here, we look at five pop and rock stars that had their sights set on country music superstardom.

In 2016, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler signed with Nashville's Big Machine record label and released a solo country album called We're All Somebody From Somewhere. It didn't do much to bring the rocker into country music. But he didn't quit his day job - Aerosmith has just announced their farewell tour.

In the spring of 2012, Lionel Richie released a country album featuring many collaborations with country stars called Tuskegee. It featured Lionel's own popular songs with Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, and many more. The country album wasn't a huge hit, but it did start the friendship between him and his now fellow American Idol judge Luke Bryan.

Ed is just beginning his dip into country music. He performed a song called "Life Goes On" with Luke Combs at the ACM Awards show. Sheeran said he would like to move towards country music in the future.

Elle King has been very successful in her dive into country music as she has already charted two number-one country songs, one with Miranda Lambert, "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)," and "Different For Girls" with Dierks Bentley. King released her debut country album Come Get Your Wife in January. She is currently touring and has been embraced by the country music community and fans.

Darius has been the most successful pop/rock star that switched to country music. So far, he has released five country albums, charted eight number-one country songs, and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2012. He has been nominated for numerous country music awards and got a Country Grammy for Best Solo Country Performance for "Wagon Wheel" in 2013.