When Eric Church and Luke Combs teamed up for Concert For Carolina to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts, it wasn’t for fame, headlines, or recognition—it was simply the right thing to do. So when the Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) honored them as co-recipients of the CRS 2025 Artist Humanitarian Award, they weren’t quite sure how to feel about it.
“I’m incredibly uncomfortable with an award like this,” Church admitted on Friday (Feb. 21) while standing beside fellow North Carolina native Luke Combs at Country Radio Seminar (CRS) as they accepted the honor.
“A mentor of mine said a long time ago that you should never think about what you get from doing the right thing. You should just do the right thing. And in this regard, this was the right thing,” he continued.
The pair pulled off the impossible with their Concert For Carolina benefit concert, putting together a massive stadium show in just a few weeks. An event of this caliber, with 82,000 attendees, would typically take a year to plan, however, thanks to their efforts, the show was a huge success and raised more than $24 million for the people impacted by Hurricane Helene.
During their CRS acceptance speech, Combs reflected on the moment they began planning the show, emphasizing that moving forward with it was never in question, despite the challenges of organizing it on such short notice.
“This was the right thing to do… Me and Eric are both from that region of North Carolina that was most heavily impacted and that morning we were on the phone by putting the show together and there was never once a thought that we weren’t going to do this,” he said.
Combs admitted that this experience was something that would ultimately define his career.
“It will be a moment that I’ll never forget,” he promised, holding back tears.
Church gave credit to Combs for calling him with the idea of putting the show together and shared that of all the shows of his career thus far, Concert For Carolina will remain one of the most memorable.
“I’ve played a lot of shows in my career and that night in Charlotte was top of the list for me as far as special shows. It was the artists that gave creatively their time, the collection of artists, the challenges we had, and the crowd responded to it,” he explained.
When it came time to choose this year’s recipient of the CRS 2025 Artist Humanitarian Award, the board didn’t hesitate—the decision was obvious.
“Eric Church and Luke Combs’ love for their home state has been nothing short of inspiring,” CRB Awards Committee Chair Beverlee Brannigan previously shared. “Their dedication to helping North Carolina recover after Hurricane Helene and their ongoing efforts show just how much they care. This award is a heartfelt recognition of their commitment, hard work, and genuine compassion for the people of North Carolina. Eric and Luke, we’re proud to honor you.”
Established in 1990, the CRS Artist Humanitarian Award aims to recognize country artists whose philanthropic efforts have had a valuable impact on the cause they support. Past recipients include Kane Brown, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, and more.
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