With wife Nicole Kidman by his side to support him, Keith Urban decided to give back on his 57th birthday. The country music artist participated in a benefit event in Charlotte, North Carolina to raise money for relief efforts following Hurricane Helene. Luke Combs, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, and Urban himself were among the many celebrities on the schedule of the Concert for Carolina, which took place at Bank of America Stadium. According to the Charlotte Observer, the event raised a staggering $24.5 million in total.
Kidman briefly informed the audience that it was Urban's birthday before going onstage with her husband to introduce Eric Church during the performance. "He wanted to be here with you," she said, adding that Church had personally invited Urban to perform. So let's get started. After the audience joined Church in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Urban, Kidman and Urban shared a tender kiss onstage and Church gave him a high five.
Image Courtesy: People
Hits like ‘Blue Ain't Your Color’ and ‘Wasted Time’ were part of Urban's set, and he and Church later sang a duet of ‘Raise 'Em Up.’ Church also covered songs by Otis Redding, Billy Joel, and The Temptations, and Combs got Bailey Zimmerman onstage for ‘Must've Never Met You.’
Over 82,000 people attended the fundraiser performance, which concluded with the $24.5 million raised announced. Luke Combs told the audience that it took 28 days of preparation to put the show together, recognizing the joy of the evening as well as the gravity of the cause.
According to a Watauga Democrat, Combs and Church pledged to donate the money to a number of relief groups, such as Church's Chief Cares, the MANNA FoodBank, Second Harvest Food Bank NWNC, Samaritan's Purse, and Eblen Charities.
–Farheen Ali
