Several students from Belmont University’s School of Music recently made an appearance on NBC, providing background vocals for Ed Sheeran during the Elvis All-Star Tribute that aired Sunday (Feb. 17).

Belmont University Associate Professor of Music Dr. Jeffery Ames, who led the students during the performance, received a message from Pat McMakin, director of Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios (which is owned by Belmont), that Sheeran’s team was looking to assemble an ensemble to contribute background vocals on a song the artist was recording.

Ames contacted 16 School of Music vocalists, both undergraduate and graduate students, and wrote the arrangement. The group rehearsed three times before taping a version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with Sheeran at Ocean Way last fall.

“Now that it’s aired, I had no idea of the magnitude and scope this production would have,” said Ames. “It truly was an opportunity to allow Belmont to shine on a national platform. In addition, it was a tremendous learning experience for all of the students involved, allowing them to record professionally in the studio with a highly skilled and popular artist.”

The national broadcast of the recording occurred last night as part of the Elvis All-Star Tribute. The two-hour program on NBC was roughly timed to mark 50 years since Presley’s historic ’68 Comeback Special, which resurrected the singer’s music career. The lineup for the performance included Sheeran, Kelsea Ballerini, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, Pistol Annies, Dierks Bentley, host Blake Shelton, John Fogerty, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Shawn Mendes and more.

Darius Rucker will be honored with the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award during the upcoming Music Biz conference in Nashville. The award commemorates his work on behalf numerous charities, including MUSC Children’s Hospital in Rucker’s hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.

Rucker will receive the honor during the Music Biz 2019 Awards and Hall of Fame dinner on Tuesday, May 7 at the JW Marriott Nashville Hotel.

“Through his tireless efforts to support the youth community of Charleston, not to mention the millions of dollars he has helped raise for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Darius has beautifully honored the legacy of our Humanitarian Award’s namesake, Harry Chapin,” said Music Biz President James Donio. “We truly feel that Harry would be proud to see how Darius has used his platform and resources to benefit those among us in need. We are delighted to recognize him for all he has contributed.”

Since 2010, his annual Darius & Friends benefit concert and golf tournament has raised millions of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Through the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation, Rucker and his bandmates have raised funds for over 200 charitable causes that support public education and junior golf programs in South Carolina.

At the annual Darius & Friends benefit concert and golf tournament, Rucker performs and plays alongside some of his famous friends in order to raise money for children who are battling cancer. The annual “Monday After the Masters” (MAM) golf tournament brings together golf pros, celebrities, and their friends to raise money for the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation and the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation, among others.

Every fall, the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation hosts Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup, an event designed to assist underprivileged children in the Charleston County School District. Through the Roundup, kids receive free annual eye exams, dental exams, new shoes, haircuts, and a backpack full of school supplies to help them prepare for the school year.

Rucker, who first found fame as the lead singer and guitarist for Hootie & The Blowfish, successfully built a solo country career on the strength of songs including “Wagon Wheel,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long,” and more. His version of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” earned Rucker his third Grammy honor in 2013.  In 2018, Rucker won the Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award from the Academy of Country Music, celebrating his devotion to improving lives through the power of music.

Rucker is set to join his Hootie bandmates in 2019 as they embark on the 44-city Group Therapy Tour, which will be accompanied by the release of their first studio album since 2005. The band signed to UMG Nashville earlier this year.

Since its inception in 1981, the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award has celebrated the legacy of folk-rock singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, whose philanthropic work to end world hunger earned him the Congressional Gold Medal. In 1977, Chapin helped create the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. He also co-founded the charitable organization World Hunger Year to which he donated all of the proceeds from merchandise sales at his concerts. The writer of the #1 hit “Cat’s in the Cradle,” top 40 singles “Taxi,” “W*O*L*D,” and “Sequel,” Chapin scored a gold album with 1974’s Verities & Balderdash. Previous recipients of the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award have included Martina McBride, Dee Snider, Melissa Etheridge, Annie Lennox, Jackson Browne, Norman Lear, and Bonnie Raitt, as well as Rock The Vote, Hands Across America and the T.J. Martell Foundation.

William Shatner made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday (Feb. 15) with Jeff Cook of the band, Alabama. The Opry appearance promoted Mr. Shatner’s and Mr. Cook’s recent collaboration on Shatner’s country album Why Not Me on Heartland Records Nashville.

Prior to taking the Opry stage, Shatner and Cook held a press conference for invited guests in Studio A located in the back of the Opry House. They amusingly covered many topics during the Q&A session including Shatner’s feelings about performing on the Opry, his interest in recording a blues album in the future, and Cook’s Star Trek memorabilia collection.

“I’m honored to be here, most humbled, you might say,” shared Shatner about the night’s momentous occasion.

And at age 87, Shatner is not slowing down. He has several upcoming TV shows that could not be formally announced at this time and is pitching a variety of shows to the networks, both animated and reality. He will be touring several times this year supporting a film called The Wrath of Khan, the second film made by the Star Trek team which Shatner is affiliated with, and he has a book called, Live Long and… What I Learned Along The Way.  Shatner also wants to do a blues album, which he mentioned in a recent interview with MusicRow.

“I want to do a documentary on this ‘white guy from Montreal’ who says, ‘What is and what are the blues?’ and I want to explore that before I make the album to document on film,” Shatner said.

Cook shared on collaborating with Shatner for the album, “I was a fan, and a bunch of years ago, we met and stayed in touch. A mutual friend that’s in the record business talked to him, talked to me, talked together and came up with this project.” Cook also has an impressive Star Trek memorabilia room in his castle in Ft. Payne, Alabama.

Shatner said, “It’s a spectacular room. He’s got a lot stuff that everybody wishes they had. I, on the other hand, have nothing. I have kept nothing.” To which Cook amusingly responded, “Would you like some of it back?”

Reflecting on importance of Nashville in the music industry, Shatner shared, “There used to be in Times Square a building called the Brill Building, that in the 40s and 50s, songwriters would be in the building. In the summer time, it was my understanding, with the windows open, you could hear the piano playing as the composers were selling their songs. And somehow, that closed and the crooning and the standards went out of favor. Nashville became the place where writing songs, like country music songs, took place. Nashville is now what the Brill Building used to be.”

Shatner added, “I’m looking forward to standing on stage, and feeling the people who played– that I admired and are probably no longer here. I believe that there is a spirit life in everything, even things that are not alive. I believe that it is so on stage. I’m looking forward to visiting with the ghosts of yesterday and yesteryear.”