Martina McBride and The Sarah Cannon Research Institute Wrap Band Against Cancer Tour
"It’s a wonderful place and they’re doing amazing things. I’m just happy to be here tonight and be part of this tour,” McBride told the Opry audience of Sarah Cannon.
Wednesday night (10/26) was an emotional one for guests at the Grand Ole Opry as Martina McBride and Sarah Cannon wrapped the powerful Band Against Cancer: The Sarah Cannon Tour. The tour hit five dates across the country, including its conclusion on the famed stage.
“It’s amazing because you know, we’ve done this tour kind of all over the country and to be able to end it in such a beautiful way with all of you and everybody who’s in the audience and right here in our hometown, in my hometown of Nashville, at the Grand Ole Opry is really special,” McBride told the press and special Sarah Cannon VIPs in a reception prior to the show. “I feel every show that we did on the Band Against Cancer Tour was special, but I’m really, really looking forward to this one.”
McBride showcased her vocal prowess during her seven song set that included “This One’s For The Girls,” “Wild Angels,” “Reckless,” “In My Daughter’s Eyes.” Possibly the most powerful of her songs being the tour’s anthem, “Just Around The Corner,” from her latest album Reckless.
“I will tell a personal thing. One of my family members was just diagnosed with cancer last week. The first place we went was Sarah Cannon. The love and the confidence that they showed made all the difference. It’s a wonderful place and they’re doing amazing things. I’m just happy to be here tonight and be part of this tour,” she told the Opry audience. “So this next song is off of our new album called ‘Reckless’ and Sarah Cannon/Band Against Cancer kind of adopted this song as their theme song this tour. It’s really a song about hope. It’s about never giving up because no matter how bad things get, there is hope ‘just around the corner.’”
The night was full of emotions as nearly everyone who stepped onstage to perform shared their personal ties with cancer and the loss of loved ones. Jimi Westbrook of Little Big Town was choked up talking about his sister, Joyce, who passed away last year from the disease. He explained that they had too gone to Sarah Cannon and couldn’t appreciate more what the staff and team of doctors did for his family. Charles Esten of CMT’s Nashville briefly talked about his 17-year-old daughter Addy, who at age two, was diagnosed with leukemia and the event struck a close nerve to his heart.
One of the most emotional moments of the night was when Scotty McCreery stepped onstage. After singing his hit, “See You Tonight,” the North Carolina native shared that he had just arrived back in Nashville after a flight. He went on to explain that he had just come from his friend Austin’s funeral. The two had grown up together with Austin just 10 days younger than the American Idol winner. Visibly upset, McCreery fought through his unreleased song “Five More Minutes,” originally written for his grandfather but at that moment, dedicated to the friend he had just laid to rest.
The final stop for the Band Against Cancer Tour also included performances from Cassadee Pope, who sang “I Wish I Could Break Your Heart,” “Wasting All These Tears,” and a song from her Summer EP, “Kisses at Airports.” The Cadillac Three also took over the Opry stage for several songs, including their hit “White Lightning.”
The Band Against Cancer: The Sarah Cannon Tour may have just wrapped, but the work of the foundation is far from over. To learn more about the program that aids those fighting cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers, visit bandagainstcancer.com or bethematch.org.
