Harvey And Irma Relief: George Strait-led Benefit Telethon With Big Names Tuesday Night

HOUSTON, TX — Several country music artists who've made a living singing songs about Texas will give back Tuesday night in a nationally-televised concert from deep in the heart of the Lone Star State. The legendary George Strait headlines the "Hand In Hand" benefit telethon for relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated the Texas coast and, well, downright messed with Texas. After the announcement of the show, Hurricane Irma slammed Florida, so organizers will now make sure funds go in the direction of each storm.

The live show from San Antonio's Majestic Theatre will begin at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT), and will be broadcast live on ABC, CBS, CMT, Fox, NBC and several other outlets that include Bravo, HBO, MTV, Oxygen, AOL, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more.

Among the country music star power taking the stage Tuesday will be Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton and Texas originals Lyle Lovitt and Robert Earl Keen. Houston's own Beyoncé will be a part of the telethon, which is in addition to her boots on the ground effort in town the last few days. Drake and Sean “Diddy” Combs will bring a hip-hop flair, and actors/actresses include George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Adam Sandler, Dennis Quaid, Julia Roberts, Robert De Niro, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.

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Talk show figures include Oprah Winfrey, Houston's Michael Strahan, Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Seacrest, Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon. Other entertainers include Gwen Stefani, Jamie Foxx, David Spade, Tyler Perry, Norah O'Donnell, Eva Longoria and many more.

The telethon will actually run concurrently from New York City, Los Angeles and Nashville, and will end with Strait and the gang from San Antonio, which was also affected by Harvey's rainfall.

The Cavender Auto Family is the main sponsor, which ensures all proceeds from the show will benefit the Rebuild Texas Fund.

"Proceeds from the one-hour telethon will benefit United Way of Greater Houston, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Children, Direct Relief, Feeding Texas, The Mayor's Fund for Hurricane Harvey Relief (administered by the Greater Houston Community Fund) and RebuildTx.org through the Hand in Hand Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund managed by Comic Relief Inc.," it states on the event's website.

Hurricane Harvey showed no mercy on Texas when it wrecked the Coastal Bend as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 25, nearly completely leveling Rockport and Port Aransas. The storm moved east and sat over Houston for four days, dumping more than 50 inches of rain in some places and flooding out the greater Houston region. Harvey then moved to the Golden Triangle and turned cities into island communities.

The Hand in Hand Hurricane benefit was originally an effort to raise funds for the soul-crushing Category 4 storm in Harvey, but organizers made arrangements to expand its beneficiaries from Tuesday's telethon to also include those who may be affected by Hurricane Irma. Irma, which made landfalls twice Sunday in Florida as Category 4 and Category 2 storms, is still churning as a tropical storm over Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.

Phone lines, text messaging, and digital donations will be open at the beginning of the show and will conclude one-hour after the show ends. For more information, updates and a link to donate, visit handinhand2017.com.

George Strait is no stranger to such benefit concerts. After the Bastrop, Texas, fire in 2011, he gathered several big0name artists (Willie Nelson, Dixie Chicks, Asleep at the Wheel, Christopher Cross and others) for a benefit at Austin's Frank Erwin Center.

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Top image: George Strait performs "You Wreck Me" at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honoring Tom Petty at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017.

Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP