“We’re here tonight because we love someone with Parkinson’s. My mother was diagnosed 18 years ago. We are hard in on the fight against this disease and we’re here tonight to raise money for The Michael J. Fox Foundation — and how hard they are working to find a cure. We believe it’s going to happen,” said Kimberly Schlapman, member of country music supergroup Little Big Town and co-chair of The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s (MJFF) inaugural A Country Thing Happened On The Way to Cure Parkinson’s.  

On Wednesday, April 26, more than 500 friends — many of them new to MJFF’s mission — gathered at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, for the first-time event. “Country Thing” is a spin-off of the Foundation’s annual New York City gala, “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Cure Parkinson’s” — which has become one of New York philanthropy’s biggest nights. 

It was a star-studded evening filled with comedy and music, and a deliciously curated meal by Country Thing co-chair and award-winning chef Sean Brock. The event’s program kicked off with virtual remarks by NBC Sunday TODAY host and MJFF Board member Willie Geist. And continued with hilarious comedy by Nate Bargatze and incredible music by Caitlyn Smith, Little Big Town and Brad Paisley. The night was capped off with a finale that brought everyone to their feet as Little Big Town and Brad Paisley sang “Mountain Music” by country music band Alabama. The song was played in honor of late Alabama band member Jeff Cook who lived with Parkinson’s disease. 

Since its inception in 2000, MJFF has funded an incredible $1.75 billion in high-impact research programs, and the Foundation’s first-time event in Nashville raised over $500,000, with 100 percent of proceeds from the evening going directly to speeding the Foundation’s global research programs. 

Brad Paisley shared his praise for Michael and the Foundation’s work on the red carpet with Country Now: 

“It’s been fun to get to know Michael, but what an inspiring human being. I’ve never seen anybody take lemons and make lemonade better than he has. He may cure this. He may be single-handedly responsible when they cure this.” 

On his gratitude for the Foundation’s biomarker announcement and the contributions of the patient community, Michael shared on the red carpet: 

“I’m so grateful to the patient community, who stepped up in a lot of ways. We’ve always said, if anyone has the answer — we have the answer — the patients have the answer. We should make ourselves available to researchers and be present for the breakthrough. And it’s happened now.” 

The evening was made possible by event title sponsor The Tennessee Titans and its co-chairs, Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox; Adi and Sean Brock; Virginia and Richard Fitzgerald; Kimberly and Steve Schlapman; and Katherine and Jay Williams. 

Read more on this star-studded night in Entertainment Tonight and The Tennessean.   

View the gallery below and search #ACountryThing on social to get an exclusive look into the first-time celebration.