Lauren Alaina had the best response to “the mean people on Facebook,” early in her career.

The country star, 31, marked a full circle moment when she took the stage in a surprise lineup at Darius Rucker’s annual benefit show for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Rucker brought the event back for its 17th year on Monday evening (June 1) at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Alaina performed that evening, along with Jason Aldean, Randy Houser, Carter Faith, Mark Wills and Rucker himself. Rucker posted photos by photographer Evan De Stefano on Instagram on Wednesday (June 3), sharing that the event raised $1.1 million for St. Jude. He said he’s “grateful for everyone who came out for year 17 of Darius & Friends to help us give back to some amazing kids.”

“I started my whole career on this stage. Well, it started at the Bridgestone [Arena] first, but when I was 15 years old, I tried out for American Idol right here,” Alaina said on the Ryman stage. The Georgia-born artist was 15 years old when she auditioned for the show’s 10th season in 2011, and finished runner-up to fellow country star Scotty McCreery. “And I ended up getting second place on American Idol that year, so if you voted for me, you changed my life. It was the craziest thing of all time.

“This next song was my first No. 1 song. It changed my life,” she continued. “I was really young when I was on that show. And pretty much overnight, people had something to say about me. A lot of people. And a lot of people that, you know, I know everybody here is aware, but not everyone around the world is nice. And I was a 16-year-old that went on national television and overnight, a lot of people had a lot to say about me. They made comments about my hair, and my accent, and my body, and I didn’t know how to handle that. …And I got a few years under my belt, and I wrote this song about not giving a crap what people on Facebook have to say about me. And I wish I could kiss ‘em all right on the mouth because they made me a lot of money because I wrote this song about it and it was my first No. 1. So, God bless the mean people on Facebook. This is ‘Road Less Traveled.’”

Alaina released “Road Less Traveled” in 2016, and the single became the title track of her sophomore studio record in early 2017. The singer-songwriter recently announced her fourth album, Stages, which will arrive this summer. The project will include “Those Kind Of Women,” “Raining Whiskey,” “All My Exes” with Chase Matthew, “Heaven Sent” and other previously-released songs. It follows Wildflower (2011), Road Less Traveled (2017), and Sitting Pretty on Top of the World (2021).

“I'm fifteen years into a ten-year town and 31 years into a lifelong dream,” Alaina said in a statement when she announced the album, produced by Joey Moi and Ben Johnson. “Stages represents every version of me along the way: the dreaming, the breaking, and, ultimately, the becoming. There's something on this album for everyone, no matter what stage of life they're in. Stages is letting everyone see behind the curtain of the girl in the spotlight. It's a reflection of the moments that shaped me and the dream that carried me through. It's always been the same dream, different stages.”

Alaina has since announced her headlining tour in support of her new studio record, including her first-ever headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium, she pointed out during her Darius & Friends performance. Alaina said in a statement that “this tour feels like my most personal yet. Stages is all about the different chapters I've lived through: the highs, the heartbreaks, the growth, and finding joy in who I am today. Every stage of my life has shaped this music, and now I finally get to bring all of these songs to stages around the country and share them with the fans who've been with me through it all. I hope people leave these shows feeling seen, healed, and maybe even a little more hopeful.”

Alaina’s tour will include Shane Profitt, Ashley Kutcher and Hannah Harper, who was crowned the first female country artist to win American Idol since Carrie Underwood won the show’s fourth season in 2005. See the dates below. Stages will arrive on August 28.

Concerts