Cancer Charity to Air Fundraising Telecast From Nashville, Featuring Sheryl Crow, Dolly Parton

Stand Up To Cancer will host its 9th biennial televised fundraising special on Aug. 15.

(Left) Musician Sheryl Crow performs at The Beacon Theatre on June 28, 2017 in New York City; (Right) Dolly Parton performs in concert during her 'Pure & Simple Tour' in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 6, 2016. Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images | Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

The nonprofit organization Stand Up To Cancer will unite country music and cancer research on one Music City stage later this summer when it airs its 9th biennial televised fundraiser live in Nashville, for the very first time.

The one-hour special, titled “One Night, One Goal: Beat Cancer,” will take place at The Pinnacle on Aug. 15, the charity announced in a press release on Wednesday. The show will run on a variety of networks and streaming platforms, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and Hulu.

Dolly Parton and Sheryl Crow, among other country stars, will be in attendance, with the latter slated to host the program. Artists from other musical genres, as well as celebrities and athletes, will also make appearances throughout the evening.

“Stand up with all of us, and let’s save lives together,” Parton said in a teaser for the show. “If we join forces, we can end cancer forever.”

Stand Up To Cancer was founded in 2008 by nine women from the media and entertainment industries, including journalist Katie Couric, former studio head Sherry Lansing, marketing executive Sue Schwartz, and film producer Pamela Oas Williams. In addition to raising awareness, the organization funds cutting-edge research for new treatments and early-stage detection for all types of cancer.

In the statement, Couric said bringing the fundraising telecast to Nashville will help “infuse new energy and excitement” into the charity’s mission.

“There’s still so much work to do, and every dollar makes a difference,” she said. “Especially to the families who are counting on novel approaches and therapies as they face the challenges that often accompany a cancer diagnosis.”

Strides for Cancer Research

Stand Up To Cancer fosters collaboration by bringing scientists and researchers together to achieve one common mission: finding a cure for cancer.

“When we founded Stand Up To Cancer, it was really with one goal in mind—to reimagine the way cancer research and awareness could be done,” Schwartz told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.

“Alongside the best and brightest in the cancer community, we posed a simple question: ‘Why is cancer being treated the same way it was 40 years ago?’”

Schwartz said the organization’s desire to break down scientific silos sparked an evolution in the way cancer research is done.

“Myself and the other eight SU2C co-founders set out to re-engineer a new model we thought could be better—one that mandated collaboration across institutions and scientific disciplines, all with the intent of moving cancer detection and treatment progress along quicker,” she said. “Beating cancer takes tremendous teamwork.”

Schwartz, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, said being a part of Stand Up To Cancer’s life-saving efforts has been the greatest honor of her life.

“Naturally, a diagnosis like this—one that puts you face-to-face with mortality, whether for yourself or for someone you love—shakes your inner being,” she said. “For me, it ignited a passion to bring positive change to a space that was ripe for it.”

Beating Cancer

During Stand Up To Cancer’s upcoming telecast, viewers will be able to hear stories from some of the survivors who have benefited from the organization’s groundbreaking research.

Kelly Spill, who participated in the charity’s 2023 telecast, faced a stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2019. She was 28 and had recently given birth to her first child. After participating in one of the organization’s immunotherapy clinical trials, she is now cancer-free, having welcomed two more children into her family.

Nick Wilkins, now in his late 20s, was diagnosed with cancer when he was just four years old. He battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia for more than a decade, during which time rounds of chemotherapy and even a bone marrow transplant failed to offer a long-term solution.

He also underwent an immunotherapy clinical trial and is now in remission, graduating from college in August 2023. “If it wasn’t for cancer research, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” he shared in a message at the time.

Schwartz, who is also now cancer-free thanks to early detection, said every patient’s story holds a special place in her heart.

Today, Stand Up To Cancer remains focused on balancing innovation with scientific rigor.

“The scale and speed of innovation demand that we go further, which is why we’re now adding new cutting-edge technology partners and platforms into that collaborative mix,” Schwartz said.

“This includes unlocking the power of new tools, like AI, ensuring we’re not just advancing science, but doing so with the agility, scalability, and precision that modern technology enables. It’s all about working smarter, together, to save more lives.”