CHARLIE DANIELS

Country music icon Charlie Daniels lent his celebrity status and musical talents to Lipscomb University to raise money for their veterans’ scholarship fun, and The Journey Home Project is an outgrowth of those concerts.

Charlie is a passionate, vocal supporter of veterans’ causes. He is a Grammy-award-winning music icon that has been performing for more than 50 years. Daniels’ rebel anthems Long Haired Country Boy and The South’s Gonna Do It propelled his 1975 collection Fire On the Mountain to Double Platinum status. He won a Grammy Award in 1979 for The Devil Went Down to Georgia and the following year, the song became a major crossover success on rock radio stations. Charlie and The Charlie Daniels Band (CDB) have earned many awards including those from the Gospel Music Association, the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.

The CDB’s recent release, Land That I Love, is a patriotic compilation including (Iraq Blues and What This World Needs is a Few More Rednecks 2010). As a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry, Charlie regularly performs on the Opry, is a member the Musicians Hall of Fame, and has a star on Music City’s Walk of Fame.

He was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service award for his support of military personnel and as well as the AmVet Silver Helmet award, an annual award that recognizes various patriotic achievements and presented by the AmVets, an organization formed by World War II veterans.

In addition to performing for our troops from Guantanamo Bay to Bosnia, Kuwait, South Korea, and repeated trips to Iraq for Stars for Stripes as well as visiting troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Korea, and elsewhere, Daniels started Operation Heartstrings, a program that donated 100 Gibson guitars, drums, keyboards, and microphones to deployed service members. More than 13,000 pieces of musical accessories were sent to deployed service members.