by Donna Hughes - The BootVince Gill headlined a three-and-a-half hour flood-relief telethon on Nashville's local NBC affiliate, WSMV, with he and some of his celebrity friends, like fellow Nashville resident Keith Urban, helping to raise more than $1.7 million. More than 6,000 calls cane in from Tennessee, and other states as far away as California, on Thursday night, with donations to help those affected by the devastating floods that hit Middle Tennessee last weekend.
Vince, taking time out from planning daughter Jenny's wedding at his home this weekend, kicked off the benefit with a bang. He and his wife Amy Grant were so inspired by Reba McEntire's generous donation, they pitched in $100,000 of their own money to aid in the recovery efforts. Taylor Swift, who is out on the road on her Fearless tour, called in from Des Moines, Iowa, to the telethon, and it was announced that she had donated $500,000 to various charities across Middle Tennessee, while Charlie Daniels called to offer his support as well. Dierks Bentley tried to call in, but couldn't get through to donate because the lines were busy! He tweeted prior to his show in Boston, "Dang it! Even tried calling Alison Krauss on her cell phone. Love that so many people were calling."
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