Amid Devastating Texas Floods, Country Star Robert Earl Keen Vows To Help With Benefit Concert

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Country singer and Texas native Robert Earl Keen plans to host a benefit concert to help his home state following catastrophic flooding. (Photo Credits: Robert Earl Keen / Facebook & ABC10 / YouTube)

Death Toll Rises In Texas Following 4th Of July Floods

Parts of Texas, including the area where Robert Earl Keen is from, are suffering amid horrific flooding, prompting Keen to organize a benefit concert to help those in need.

As NBC News reports, the flooding started on Friday (July 4). Surges reached 20-26 feet along the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, the county seat of Kerr County. The flooding led President Donald Trump to sign a major disaster declaration for the county.

An update NBC News posted to its ongoing live blog early on Monday morning (July 7) states that the death toll has climbed to 81 across six Texas counties. 68 of those deaths were reported in Kerr County alone.

Additionally, 10 children are still missing from Camp Mystic, a summer camp located along the Guadalupe River. The camp’s official website shared the sad news that 27 of its campers and counselors were killed in the flood.

“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” the camp’s website reads.

Country Artist Robert Earl Keen Plots Benefit Concert To Help Texans After Catastrophic Floods

As the search continues for survivors, Texans are facing indescribable destruction caused by the floods. People across the U.S., many of them Texas natives, have stepped up to help, whether through cleanup efforts, donations, or by rescuing victims.

Robert Earl Keen is one Texan who’s stepping up to help the state recover from the floods, and he’s doing so through a benefit concert.

Keen was born in Houston but moved to Austin after graduating from Texas A&M. In 1983, he won the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival, held in the same area now affected by the floods.

He released his debut album, No Kind of Dancer, in October 1984. Keen’s career took off from there, with his popularity increasing even more as he got older. He released several hit albums in the 2000s and 2010s, including Gravitational Forces (2001), The Rose Hotel (2009), and Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions (2015).

Country singer Robert Earl Keen poses, arms crossed, in front of a car
Country singer Robert Earl Keen is a Texas native. (Photo Credit: Robert Earl Keen / Facebook)

Keen was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2019. Three years later, he announced his retirement from touring and performing in public. However, he has continued performing, and now plans to host a benefit concert to help Texas recover from the floods.

As Keen shared on X (formerly Twitter), his daughters attended Camp Mystic when they were young. Seeing everything the campers, counselors, and their families have suffered has struck an emotional chord with him.

On Saturday (July 5), Keen shared a video outlining his efforts to help those affected by the floods. He vowed to donate his merchandise sales from his current tour to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.

Additionally, Keen announced his plans to host a benefit concert to raise even more funds. He promised to provide more details about the benefit concert in the future.

Watch Keen’s video message below. We join him in praying for the people of Texas.

If you’d like to help those affected by the Texas floods, the image below contains information about an emergency relief drive.

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About the Author

Miranda Raye

Hello, I'm Miranda, a lifelong country music fan! There are old home videos of me in my baby swing, swinging along to Dolly Parton and Ricky Van Sheltonโ€™s โ€œRockinโ€™ Years.โ€ Being able to unite my passions for storytelling, researching, and music into my work has been a dream come true.

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