Chris Stapleton is feeling the impact of giving back to his home state.
Over the weekend, the singer headlined A Concert for Kentucky, a show he put together two years ago but that had been repeatedly postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While performing for more than 55,000 people at Kroger Field at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Chris used the opportunity for good, raising more than $1 million for he and wife Morgane Stapleton's Outlaw State of Kind Hometown Fund to donate back to local causes close to their hearts.
Among the charities receiving grants are Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, UK Healthcare Kentucky Children’s Hospital, the Community Foundation of Western Kentucky’s Disaster Relief Fund, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
"Every night we walk on a stage, we do our best to help people forget their troubles or celebrate or remember or hope or heal. As a musician I can’t think of a greater honor than reaching a point where we can play a show for 40,000 people and give all of the profits back to a community that has been so unfailingly loyal and supportive," Chris shared in a reflective Instagram post. "It is a tremendously pure and rewarding moment to get to provide the medicine that is music in that space."
This marked the first show ever at Kroger Field, with Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Madeline Edwards also on the bill.