Chris Young may be Country Weekly‘s Hottest Bachelor, but he’s also a very cool guy, and Chris is stepping up to help his hometown area this Friday, May 1st, with the Chris Young & Friends Tornado Relief Benefit Presented by MTSU and The Big 98 WSIX. Hosted by Newman from Nashville’s WSIX, the benefit will include a silent auction and feature performances by Chris, Richie McDonald, and other artists to be announced. Proceeds will support the Heart of Tennessee Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Tennessee Emergency Response Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. For Chris, it’s a chance to help his hometown area and exercise one of the privileges of being an artist — being able to help. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Tickets are only $15, with the event being staged at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, TN. For tickets and additional information, visit murfreesborobenefit.com.

  Chris Young talks about the tornado relief benefit he’s hosting this week. (:51)
“Murfreesboro, which is my hometown, actually got struck by really bad storm activity and a major tornado — an F4 tornado — and did a whole lot of damage to homes and actually damaged four houses down from my parents; there’s houses that are gone. It hit the street I grew up on as a kid. Luckily, their house is okay. You know, there’s literally houses that I used to ride my bike past as a kid that are gone. And we’re just trying to throw a benefit — we’re actually throwin’ the benefit at Murphy Center — on May 1st, which is a Friday. We’re doin’ a lot of things with that. We’ve got a silent auction goin’ on…a lot of people are playin’ — everybody’s just showin’ up and playin’, and the proceeds are all goin’ to benefit Rutherford County tornado victims. So, we’re doin’ that. It’s somethin’ that I just, I mean, you know, when it hits that close to you, you just feel like you need to get involved.”

  Chris Young believes that one of the greatest things about being an artist is being able to lend your support where it’s needed. (:20)
“I think that’s one of the coolest things about — and one of the most important parts — about bein’ an artist is that you have the power to do stuff like that. And, you know, that you do reach out to people that need it, so hopefully this raises a bunch of money for them, and we’re just gonna be pushin’ really hard on it and hopin’ people come out to the show.”