Old Dominion Honored At 35th Annual Country Cares For St. Jude Kids

No family ever has to pay for treatment, travel, housing, or food at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

That comes with a hefty price tag. It costs nearly $2 billion to sustain and grow St. Jude each year, which is why in 1989, Randy Owen of the country music supergroup Alabama challenged the country radio industry to do everything in its power to raise money for St. Jude. 

The 35th Country Cares for St. Jude Seminar, an annual gathering of country music artists and industry professionals, was held October 21-22 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. During the milestone event, organizers announced that Country Cares has raised $1 billion since its inception.

Six-time ACM Award Group of Year Old Dominion was the recipient of the 2024 Angels Among Us award for their service and commitment to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The band first attended the Country Cares Seminar in 2016 after signing to RCA Records Nashville and has since participated in seven #ThisShirtSavesLives campaigns, played the Bobby Bones Million Dollar Show, lent their songs to support fundraising, performed at numerous fundraising events and spent time with patients.

Old Dominion joins an all-star group of past recipients, including Randy Owen, Brothers Osborne, Scotty McCreery, Florida Georgia Line, Lady A, Jake Owen, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker. 

The two-day celebration kicked off at Graceland with a lively performance by Jon Pardi, who performed his hits like Dirt On My Boots, as well as a fitting tribute to Elvis Presley, including Suspicious Minds. 

Dozens of artists visited St. Jude for the first time this year, including Tennessee Orange singer Megan Moroney.

“It's a very emotional and moving experience,” she said during a press conference. “I think I spent an hour and a half trying not to cry just because I think St. Jude is so special and the way that they prioritize the children and their families and everything is thought out. It's so intentional, and I was just telling everyone today [that] I wish every children's hospital could be like this.”

Touring the St. Jude campus is an eye-opening experience, because it’s not just a hospital. It’s housing for families. It’s research facilities. It’s dining. It’s a community of people joining forces to cure cancer and treat the mind, body, and spirit of every child and family that walk through their doors. Artists were inspired and deeply touched by the patients they met.

As a veteran who was injured in service and spent a lot of time at a hospital, country artist Scotty Hasting appreciated the community aspect of St. Jude. “It's incredibly overwhelming, but I think in the best way,” he told Countrytown.

“There's such a sense of community here, and it's truly a family. St. Jude is more than just a hospital, and it's incredible. And it's something that I felt when I was at Walter Reed after I was injured; we had same that community, and we had that same family. So when they were talking about that, it was so easy for me to connect and understand that because I've been there.”

Singer-songwriter Ryan Larkins, a father of three, was filled with gratitude. “I've thought about how thankful I am for my family. I've thought about how thankful I am for their health.” And he was surprised by the spirit of the kids he met.

“They're so full of joy, really. And so just to see them go through what they're going through and just face it with that joy and that hope—it's really a special thing. I want to tell everybody about St. Jude. This is such a special place you walk in; it doesn't feel like a hospital. You walk in, and it's just such a fun environment, and they've done such a great job just creating that.”

Seminar attendees also heard presentations from staff, patients, and families about the incredible work St. Jude is doing in Memphis, across America, and around the globe. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped improve the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 per cent to more than 80 per cent since it opened 50 years ago. And, St. Jude shares its discoveries, so doctors and scientists can use that knowledge to save thousands more children.

During the luncheon session, Brad Paisley surprised the crowd with a performance that started with the profound lyrics, “You’re not supposed to say the word cancer in a song.”

After performing This is Country Music, Paisley brought out Randy Owen to sing Old Alabama together, earning the pair a standing ovation. Paisley then introduced former St. Jude patient and cancer survivor Addie Pratt, who flawlessly performed Whiskey Lullaby with her angelic voice. 

The culmination of the Country Cares for St. Jude seminar was the Angels Among Us dinner, which featured performances by Megan Moroney, honoree Old Dominion, and Alabama frontman Randy Owen. 

Attendees flooded the dance floor to celebrate, singing along to Moroney’s hits like I’m Not Pretty and Am I Okay?

Old Dominion were presented with the 2024 Angels Among Us Award by Randy Owen. During their acceptance speeches, band member Trevor Rosen shared an inspiring story about his wife. 

“Many years ago, my wife was 17 years old and was rushed to the hospital. She had a couple of heart attacks, and we found out that she had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. And it was really bad. It was a tumour around her heart. And they brought her in and basically told her that she probably wouldn't make it through the night. And if she did make it through, they were going to give her the highest dose of chemo.

“They could see what would happen. And when she came out of the coma several days later, they said, you're still alive. Probably never be able to have kids. But I want to say that she's here tonight with my daughter. She did make it. So I say that there is always hope, and miracles do happen, and a lot of times, those happen because of this place, St. Jude.”

After receiving their award, Old Dominion took the stage for a 6-song set of their hits, including Make It Sweet and One Man Band, before bringing out Alabama frontman and Country Cares founder Randy Owen to perform Alabama’s Tennessee River and Mountain Music. 

To close out the night and the seminar, Owen continued his tradition of performing Alabama’s Angels Among Us alongside patients and artists in attendance. “I had no idea when in ‘89 when we started Country Cares that that would be like the theme song,” said Owen during a press conference. “But it's a wonderful song. I wish I'd have written it, but I sure as hell sang it,” he chuckled with a grin.

St. Jude is able to treat more than 8,000 patients each year for childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases thanks to initiatives like Country Cares for St. Jude Kids. Fans can become part of the mission to find cures and save children by becoming a Partner in Hope and get their own #ThisShirtSavesLives t-shirt for just $19 per month. To get involved, visit musicgives.org.