Chris Stapleton, Reba Set for Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountains Telethon
Dolly Parton‘s telethon to benefit victims of this month’s deadly East Tennessee wildfires airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on GAC, AXS-TV, RFD and the Heartland Network. And Parton has enlisted some big names for the three-hour special, titled Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund.
Reba McEntire, Hank Williams Jr., Alabama, and Kenny Rogers represent country’s legends – along with host Parton – while contemporary stars Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, Chris Janson, Locash and Lauren Alaina are also set to perform.
Alison Krauss, Ronnie Dunn, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Big & Rich and Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant are on the bill, along with Cyndi Lauper and “American Pie” singer Don McLean.
The telethon will stream online at USA Today and its affiliated local-newspaper web sites, and also be broadcast via Cumulus Media’s Nash Nights Live, TuneIn’s Country Roads channel and select iHeart Media stations.
As Parton has announced, victims of the fire who lost their homes will receive $1,000 a month from the My People Fund for up to six months. Those interested in applying for or donating to the fund can do so at DollywoodFoundation.org.
The country icon established the fund in partnership with her Dollywood Company and her dinner theaters, all based in Sevier County, where Parton grew up. “I’ve always believed charity begins at home,” she wrote on the fund’s website. “And that’s why I’ve asked my companies to help me establish a fund to assist the victims of the Great Smoky Mountain wildfires in Tennessee.”