After announcing his star-studded, one-night-only charity concert earlier this week, tickets are now on sale for Country-Soul singer Drake White’s “Benefit for the Brain,” an inspirational night raising funds and awareness for mental and brain health.
Set for August 28 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and featuring performances by White, Randy Houser, Riley Green, Jamey Johnson and more, proceeds from the show will benefit a handpicked slate of partners representing three charitable pillars – military personnel and their families with a focus on PTSD and other related issues; child and adolescent brain health; and progressive research into alternative brain and stroke treatments, with distribution by White’s Big Fire Fund 501(c)(3) charity organization.
It’s a deeply important cause for White, who survived an onstage stroke in 2019 and was forced to relearn how to do almost everything. Discussing "Benefit for the Brain" and his ongoing recovery with The Tennessean, White spoke about his vision for the night – and his calling to bring attention to this need.
“I'm a paralysis survivor who thought I had lost the connection to myself, my parents, my wife, my guitar, pen and paper, forever,” White explained. “Then, by the power of God, I learned how to talk, walk, play guitar and re-learn an appreciation for what was at the foundation of who I am. Now, I can add my fans who stuck by me through all of this – and people I can now offer assistance to – into the mix.”
“Mental health isn't what you want it to be, it's what you need it to be,” he also said. “Acronyms and words that trigger people on social media aren't enough to help people who may be at a desperate moment.”
