Concert for Carolina, an Oct. 26 benefit concert for Hurricane Helene relief at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium, will now be livestreamed due to overwhelming demand, organizers announced.

Artists Scotty McCreery, The Avett Brothers, Chase Rice and Parmalee have been added to the star-studded lineup, which includes Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, Luke Combs, Eric Church, Billy Strings and James Taylor.

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The musicians have partnered with Veeps to livestream the concert at this link. The livestream will cost $24.99 with an option for additional donations.

Helene victims will be able to see the concert at no cost. Veeps used geotargeting to ensure those impacted by Helene will not be charged to watch the livestream.

The livestream was added after tickets for the show quickly sold out. The livestream will provide an additional opportunity to raise as much money as possible for Hurricane Helene relief efforts. 

The money raised from tickets and sponsorships will be distributed to Samaritan’s Purse, Manna Food BankSecond Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC and Church’s Chief Cares organization. All are working to expedite aid directly to families affected by Hurricane Helene. 

Combs said he reached out to Church right away to get things organized. The artists wanted to put on as big of a concert as possible to raise as much money as possible.

Church grew up in Granite Falls, 30 miles south of Blowing Rock, and attended Appalachian State University. He said his family lives half the year in the mountains of North Carolina in the Banner Elk area.

"The community there ... it's been decimated," Church said. "My immediate family's fine. Everybody's good, but the community from where we spent half our year is not fine at all."

Banner Elk was hit especially hard by Helene.

"It's devastating," Church said. "I mean, that's the DNA of who I am. Creatively, personally, that's where my soul is at rest. That's where I go to find me when I've lost me. And, you know, to lose parts of that place and the people from that place ... it's especially devastating."

Church explained the mountains are the place he goes to find his creative compass.

"It's a place that grounds me," he said. "So when your grounding rod comes up and you lose that, it's all about trying to get that back. And I think that's what we're both trying to do."

Combs grew up and went to high school in Asheville, one of the areas hit hardest by Helene. His career started with performances in local bars while a student at Appalachian State University.

"Fairview, Garren Creek ... that's where I went to high school," he said. "And I know that that area specifically was tremendously impacted. But it's not just Asheville; it's not just Boone. There's 14, 15, 16 counties just in North Carolina that have been absolutely, absolutely destroyed."

Despite the devastation, Combs said he knows people in the mountains are tough and will overcome this.

"But that doesn't mean they don't need a whole hell of a lot of support right now," Combs said. "I think we're just doing, you know, what we do best to try to send as much help as we can out there."

WRAL News asked Church how he will feel when he performs his hit song "Carolina" at the Oct. 26 benefit concert.

"It's going to be emotional just doing that," he said. "I'm going to be thinking about my grandpa and be thinking about the people, family members and friends and, you know, I'm gonna be thinking about my youth and the place that built me – my home."

WRAL News asked the two how they came up with the idea to host a benefit concert.

"I mean, it was just really started out as an idea, right?" Combs said. "I was sitting at home and I called [Church] straight away; I knew he would be having the same thoughts that I was."

Church said they started reaching out to people, and the response has been overwhelming – in the best way.

"We both went into our phones and started texting people, calling people, telling them kind of what we're going to do," Church said. "And people have been great to respond."

Church said it's going to be a fun night.

"It's going to be an incredible lineup," he said. "It's going to be a one-of-a-kind, for-that-night-only kind of music experience."

Combs said they wanted to do the biggest show possible to raise as much money as possible, so he reached out to the Carolina Panthers. Tepper Sports & Entertainment, the owners of the Panthers, graciously donated the stadium for the concert, and Combs' production team has donated all the production. Combs estimates those donations could add an extra $1 million for relief efforts.

Church has dedicated publishing rights and proceeds from his newest song, "Darkest Hour," to North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.  

"We gave it to the people of North Carolina," he said. "The biggest thing there is shining a light and raising awareness with the song [so] that people don't forget about. This is not going to take months. It's going to take years to rebuild. And it's about continuing to remind them about that."

Church said the song wasn't written about Helene, but the song hits home for many people in western North Carolina.

"I recorded that song a few weeks ago, and never when I wrote that song did I ever think this would be the scenario for that song," Church said. "But when the hurricane happened and I saw what happened in western North Carolina, the main lyric of this song is, 'In your darkest hour, I'll come running.' And a lot of people there need us to come run."

ESPN’s Marty Smith and Barstool Sports’ Caleb Pressley will host the event.