Country stars Morgan Wallen, Hardy and Ernest perform a lengthy writers’ round performance honoring Big Loud partner and CEO Seth England at the 49th annual TJ Martell Foundation Gala in New York Tuesday night, raising about $2.6 million for cancer research — the largest amount in more than two decades. England was honored with the foundation’s Lifetime Music Industry Award.
Highlights included Hardy opening the performance with his hit “Truck Bed,” a collaboration between Wallen and Ernest on “Flower Shops,” and Wallen singing the hit “Last Night.” He also performed his new, unreleased song ‘Love Somebody’, which was previewed during his recent European tour, and the three reunited for their chart-topping collaboration with Post Malone, ‘I Had Some Help’ (although Post did not perform in the house was). .
The event was hosted by Chairman-Elect of the TJ Martell Foundation Board of Trustees Steve Gawley and the Gala Co-Chair Committee, including Ben Adelson, Tyler Arnold, Scott Borchetta, Tom Corson, Archie Davis, John Esposito, Clint Higham , Lynn-Anne Huck, Monte Lipman, Avery Lipman, Rakiyah Marshall, Debbie Martell, Joey Moi, Brian O’Connell, Andre Stapleton, Julie Swidler, Greg Thompson, Candice Watkins and Craig Wiseman.
“When I asked Seth England to be this year’s Honoree, he didn’t hesitate, he didn’t have to check his schedule, he just said yes because that’s the kind of person Seth is. He really cared, understood the seriousness of our case and jumped in with both feet. Seth’s only question was, “How can we make the most impact?” Because Seth always thinks big,” said Steve Gawley, chairman-elect of the TJ Martell Foundation Board of Trustees, during his speech honoring England. “The next day, Seth and his wife, Rakiyah Marshall, kicked off the campaign with a personal donation of a quarter of a million dollars. The Big Loud Team and Martell Team planned a kickoff breakfast at Nissan Stadium in Nashville last May, raising more than $1.1 million and highlighting the true spirit and generosity of the Nashville music community. Our fundraising work continued at full speed into the summer and then I received a call from Craig Wiseman, Seth’s other partner at Big Loud. What Craig conveyed to me was simply the immense pride he had in having mentored Seth throughout his career. Craig asked me, “How much do you need to get over $2 million?” I’ll give you $300,000 today, we’ll break the record today and now go ahead and get even more for cancer research, my friend.” and I was quite stunned.
In his acceptance speech, England said: “None of us would be here without the incredible work of the historic TJ Martell Foundation. This year I’ve had a huge learning curve about everything this organization means to people: I’ve learned about the people it has helped save and the money raised that continues to go to cancer research. The work the TJ Martell Foundation has done has touched countless lives, and being part of that legacy is beyond humbling. I am honored to be able to contribute to this mission in some small way tonight.”
“I always want to remind all three of them,” he gestured to Wallen, Hardy and Ernest, “and anyone who will listen, that this business is what you do, it’s not who you are,” he continued. “Tonight I couldn’t be more proud of those three in particular who showed up for me, for this foundation and for cancer research because that’s who they are as people.”
The evening is the Foundation’s major fundraiser of the year and supports its mission to cure cancer by funding high-risk, high-reward research that could lead to groundbreaking advances in early detection, screening and treatments. For more information and to make a contribution, visit tjmartell.org.
