'Love Rising': Moments from Nashville's all-star LGBTQ benefit concert

A country star, a soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and more than a dozen drag performers all shared the stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena Monday night for "Love Rising," an all-star benefit concert for LGBTQ causes.

Co-organizers — which included singer-songwriters Allison Russell and Jason Isbell — put the show together in a matter of weeks, and did so in response to a pair of bills which were signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on March 2. The new laws ban gender-affirming health care and "adult-oriented" entertainment, including "male and female impersonators," from public property.

With that in mind, "Love Rising" played as part concert, part rally, and part arena-sized support group. Performers included Russell and Isbell, Maren Morris, Sheryl Crow, Hayley Williams, Hozier, Brittany Howard and more than a dozen others. Below, a few of the memorable statements made — in speech and song — from the "Love Rising" stage.

Maren Morris: Before she arrived at the arena, the country/pop artist — and the lone mainstream country act on the "Love Rising" bill — said she felt her song "Better Than We Found It" was a "little on the nose to do tonight."

But then she brought her three-year-old son to soundcheck, and took him backstage to meet the drag queens getting ready for the show.

"He's growing up here as a Nashvillian, and I just want to leave this world for him a little bit better than the one we're in right now. And I feel like nights like tonight help do that."

"And yes, I introduced my son to some drag queens today," she added, as the room cheered. "So Tennessee, (expletive) arrest me."

She followed up "Found It" with her crossover smash "The Middle" — but ceded the spotlight to the splits and handstands of Nashville drag performer Alexia Noelle Paris.

'Love Rising':How a group of Nashville artists pulled together an arena-sized LGBTQ rally in days

Hayley Williams: Joined by Nashville-based indie/folk artist Becca Mancari, the Paramore frontwoman celebrated the creative community of Nashville with an acoustic performance of "Inordinary," from her 2021 solo album "Flowers for Vases / Descansos."

It's a song recalling Williams' move to Franklin, Tenn. in 7th grade, and she wanted to play it "because there are good people here that are trying to continue to make this a good place to live."

It wasn't a surprise that one of the night's biggest stars got to play two songs, but no one in the room could have predicted that Williams would tackle Deana Carter's "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" for her second number — a selection made in solidarity with Tennessee's drag performers.

Jason Isbell: "I can't tell you how happy I am to be in this room with so many good people," the Americana favorite said as he took the stage with his wife and collaborator Amanda Shires. Along with an acoustic "Cover Me Up" (which still packs the same emotional wallop ten years on), Isbell took on Wet Willie's sunny "Keep On Smilin'" with the house's "Rainbow Coalition Band," which he introduced and heaped praise onto.

Allison Russell: "This is circle work that we're all engaged in," said Russell, whose own backing band made up much of the "Rainbow Coalition" band.

"We make a circle together. And circles are powerful. There's no one above. There's no one below. A circle is whole, no matter how bloody, no matter how bruised."

She and the band's "You Are Not Alone" — an effervescent folk-pop single she recorded with Brandi Carlile last year — was among the most joyous moments of Monday's show.

And Russell's energy was crucial fuel for a nearly four-hour show, as she lent backing vocals, banjo and clarinet to more performances than we could name.

Sheryl Crow: The longtime Nashville resident was an early highlight of "Love Rising," treating the crowd to her 1996 hit "Everyday Is A Winding Road."

"This song is like 30 years old, and it's strange how it just kind of rewrites its meaning, all the time."

Her next tune was from that same year, far less recognizable, and handpicked for the evening: "Hard to Make a Stand." In part, it was inspired by a person who frequented a coffee shop Crow went to: "a 75 year old man who was dressed as a woman."

"She was very lovely, she would hand out flowers, and everyone was afraid of her," she said.

Crow said the person was asked to keep away from the shop after other patrons complained.

"The next morning, she slipped a note under the door that said, 'If I'm not here, you're not here,' And signed it 'Miscreation.'"

The (new) Highwomen: Russell and Joy Oladokun stepped in for Brandi Carlile and Natalie Hemby to sing the supergroup's inclusivity anthem "Crowded Table," flanked by a stage full of drag performers.

Mya Byrne and Swan Real: The partners and collaborators capped off their duet of "Easy to Love" with an onstage kiss.

"Trans people are easy to love," Real said afterwards. "Trans children are easy to love."