Martina McBride Wraps Band Against Cancer Tour in Nashville
While any night at the Grand Ole Opry is special, Wednesday (Oct. 26) was a particularly special show, as the Band Against Cancer: The Sarah Cannon Tour made its final stop at the historic venue. Martina McBride is at the helm of the tour, raising money for cancer research organizations including Sarah Cannon Fund at Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Be the Match.
"Sarah Cannon is doing such amazing work,” McBride says of the organization. “I visited this center, it's incredible and just really groundbreaking stuff. So it's so important to be able to be a part of that and to spread that message."
The powerhouse singer brought the Opry house down when she took the stage, opening with her hit “This One’s for the Girls.” McBride described the Sarah Cannon Tour as one that “has been such an amazing experience,” calling it a “very special movement.” In addition to her first No. 1 hit, “Wild Angels,” McBride also performed the theme song for Sarah Cannon, “Just Around the Corner,” off her current album, Reckless.
But McBride isn’t the only one who has been personally touched by Sarah Cannon. Before Little Big Town rocked the Opry house with hits like “Girl Crush” and “Stay All Night,” band member Jimi Westbrook told the emotional story of his sister Morgan, who recently passed away from cancer and how Sarah Cannon is a “beacon of hope.”
“When we walked out of the door, my sister was a different person,” Westbrook says of the first time they visited the organization. “You’re a person that they love and they care about.”
Nashville’s Charles Esten also took the stage in benefit of Sarah Cannon, saying that he organized his schedule specifically so that he could be there. “I am extremely proud to be a part of such a special night with Sarah Cannon. This is an important night to be here,” he remarked. The singer has been releasing a new single every Friday for 15 weeks and performed the first of those singles, “Though the Blue,” which has already seen two million online streams.
In addition to supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Nashville star recently hosted the Light the Night walk in downtown Nashville in support of fighting blood cancers, relaying the story of how his 16-year-old daughter, Addie, was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two and is now cancer-free. He prompted the entire Opry house to stand up and hold up the light from their phones alongside blood cancer survivors, who were holding lighted lanterns, in support of the survivors and cancer research.
Scotty McCreery and Cassadee Pope also performed in support of the organization. Pope, who’s nominated for Musical Event of the Year at the CMA Awards for “Think of You,” her duet with Chris Young, has been on the road with McBride for the tour, saying it’s been “an amazing journey” “for a “great cause.”
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