Eric Church Brilliantly Covers Ronnie Milsap’s “Smoky Mountain Rain” At “Concert For Carolina”
on Oct 29, 2024
Country Stars Help Raise Over $24 Million For Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts
Eric Church paid tribute to Ronnie Milsap during a multi-song medley he performed at the Concert for Carolina on October 26.
Church joined Luke Combs to organize the event. The concert helped raise funds to support hurricane relief efforts in their home state of North Carolina.
In addition to Church and Combs, other performers included James Taylor, Billy Strings, Keith Urban, and Scotty McCreery.
Over 82,000 people attended the concert at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Many others watched the livestream from home.
At the night’s end, Concert for Carolina raised more than $24 million for hurricane relief. Reflecting on the extraordinary night, Combs said:
“My goodness, what a night! This will undoubtedly go down as the night I am most proud of in my career. Being able to give back to the place that gave me so much.”
Eric Church Performs 10-Song Medley Honoring His Favorite Artists And Songs
Church surprised the crowd at Concert for Carolina by diving into a multi-song cover medley, which he bookended with his own track, “Mistress Named Music.” His medley contained ten covers in total, all honoring artists and songs that influenced him growing up.
Brooks & Dunn’s “Neon Moon,” Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” and Waylon Jennings’ “Good Ol’ Boys” were among the songs he performed. He opened the medley with a cover of Ronnie Milsap’s timeless track, “Smoky Mountain Rain.”
Milsap released “Smoky Mountain Rain” as a single in 1980. The song reached the #1 spot on the Hot Country Songs chart, making it Milsap’s 16th chart-topping hit. It also claimed the 24th spot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.
To this day, “Smoky Mountain Rain” is known as one of Milsap’s signature songs.
RELATED: ERIC CHURCH & SHERYL CROW UNITE FOR “PICTURE” DUET AT “CONCERT FOR CAROLINA”
Church delivered a brilliant rendition of “Smoky Mountain Rain” during the Concert for Carolina. His performance was raw and stripped down, with only the sound of his own acoustic guitar to back him up.
One attendee uploaded a video of his performance on TikTok, which you can watch below. The video already has over 134,000 views at the time of this writing.
We feel Eric Church made Ronnie Milsap proud with this performance. As a North Carolina native himself, Milsap is surely also proud to know that Church helped raise over $24 million for hurricane relief!
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