Artists Rally to Aid Victims of Nashville Floods

Two weeks after Nashville suffered fatal flooding that badly damaged pillars of the city's rich country music industry, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Brad Paisley have announced benefits to raise money and relief for affected citizens. "With the way insurance works, if you're above a flood zone, you can't get insurance," Paisley told Rolling Stone last week. "And this thing was so far above the flood zone that a lot of people [whose homes were destroyed] didn't have any flood insurance."

On June 22nd, McGraw and Hill will present "Nashville Rising" at the city's Bridgestone Arena. The duo have rounded up an A-list group of pop and country musicians for the show, including Taylor Swift (who has already donated $500,000 to the cause), Miley Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, Brooks and Dunn, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Carrie Underwood. More guests for the event will be announced shortly; tickets go on sale May 14th. Meanwhile, Brad Paisley will headline the "Music City Keep on Playin' " telethon, set to air May 16th. Paisley will be joined by Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley and Rodney Atkins for the benefit. Both events will raise money for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Ke$ha, who is also based in Nashville, has booked a June 16th concert at the city's Limelight and promises to donate one-hundred percent of money raised to victims. "Nashville helped shape me as an artist and as a person and my love for this city is beyond words," Ke$ha said in a statement. "I will continue to do anything I can to help rebuild this city and support the families and animals who have been affected by this tragedy."

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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