Eric Church hands over ownership of “Darkest Hour” to his home state of North Carolina
All publishing royalties from his first new solo music in years go to the people of North Carolina—for immediate relief and a more resilient future.
To provide immediate relief following the devastation of Hurricane Helene while also providing ongoing funds to support a more resilient future for North Carolina, Eric Church is signing over all of his publishing royalties for his new song to the people of North Carolina. The song, Church’s first new solo release in over three years, is titled “Darkest Hour” and is available everywhere.
There are a lot of people out there right now who are in their darkest hour and they need people to come running. We were going to wait to release music until next year, but it just didn’t feel right to wait with this song. Sometimes you give songs their moment and sometimes they find their own moment.
Eric Church
“From Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, Upstate South Carolina, parts of Georgia and even Florida which took a direct hit, there are so many places that were impacted. Specifically in the area that I’m from, the mountains of Western North Carolina were devastated. There are places that are just biblically gone. These are our family members, they’re our friends, they’re our neighbors—and they’re in dire need of help,” reflects Church.
“This song was the best way I could think to try to help. We’ve been helping with boots on the ground efforts, but this is something that will live beyond just the immediate recovery. This is not a quick thing to fix, so hopefully ‘Darkest Hour’ will be able to contribute to that for a long time to come. This song goes to my home, North Carolina, now and forever.”
He continues, “‘Darkest Hour’ is a song dedicated to the unsung heroes, the people who show up when the world’s falling apart. This is for the folks who show up in the hardest times, offering a hand when it’s most needed, and standing tall when others can’t. Even in your darkest hour, they come running. And I think it’s also important to be one of the people that go running when other people need help.”
In addition to his efforts in his home state, Church’s Chief Cares is assisting not only in North Carolina, but in all states and communities affected from Appalachia to the Gulf.
