Brad Paisley Recalls Randy Owen’s Words of Wisdom

When Brad Paisley was a rising star, he met Alabama's Randy Owen at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, where Owen was undoubtedly hosting one of his Country Cares for St. Jude Kids' events. But while Paisley was there to focus on the children, he says he unexpectedly learned one of his biggest life lessons in the process.

Paisley asked Owen, the front man for one of country music's biggest bands, if he had any advice for him, which Owen gladly shared.

"Someday, awards, accolades, money -- none of it will matter," Owen told Paisley (quote via CMT). "It's this. It's things like this that'll matter. If you did things like this and helped people out, that's what you'll remember and what you'll be proudest of."

The 'Perfect Storm' singer shared that story on stage at the Grand Ole Opry last week, when he joined in the 25th anniversary celebration of Country Cares for St. Jude Kids. The charitable organization has already raised more than $500 million for the children's hospital, but Owen says he hopes to double that in his lifetime.

"I think it's surpassed anybody's expectation with the amount of money they've raised, and Randy has told me before that it was his greatest source of pride. This, to me, epitomizes who he is more than any song he ever wrote," Paisley notes. "We're here because of what they started and to say that country music still has the heart it's always had."

Joining Paisley and Owen for the evening were ‘Nashville‘ actors Jonathan Jackson, the Charlie Daniels Band, Eric Paslay, Bill Anderson and Maddie and Tae. To find more information about the charity, or to make a donation, click here.