Country music fans met Grammy-winning duo FOR KING + COUNTRY in 2019 when the Australian brother duo teamed with Dolly Parton for a duet on their song “God Only Knows.” They performed with Parton on the CMA Awards and their version of “Little Drummer Boy” went viral after they wowed at CMA Country Christmas.
The duo, comprised of Joel and Luke Smallbone, recently released their new album “What Are We Waiting For?” which landed at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart. They decided to celebrate by giving back.
FOR KING + COUNTRY is hosting an online concert fundraiser to benefit Ukrainian refugees through Convoy Of Hope. The men performed new songs from “What Are We Waiting For?” including their current crossover single “RELATE,” “Love Me Like I Am,” “TOGETHER” and “Broken Halos” with a full band at sunset from the Mojave Desert in California.
“Our hope is that this family, spiritual and global record will meet listeners right where they are and be a soundtrack as we step into the future,” the band said in a statement. “It’s with no small dose of gratitude that we say, ‘thank you’! As a small way to express it, we’ve put together a special performance from the Mojave Desert playing a good portion of the new record to celebrate and commemorate the launch and also raise funding for Ukrainian refugees.”
The livestream follows the theme of the “Broken Halos” video the men hoped would unite people in understanding that we’re all dealing with something and that we can rise above it together.
“‘Broken Halos’ falls into the global category of this album,” Joel Smallbone said. “We’re so prone to our judgments and our preconceived notions of people that if we could just come to this recognition that we’re spiritual beings and we’re fallen physical beings, but we’re all in this same proverbial sinking ship, once we recognize our own mutual struggle, then maybe there’s the ability for a sense of empathy and compassion to take over. We can set aside a lot of these judgments and then actually be free.”
The Smallbones filmed the video for “Broken Halos” in Eagle Mountain, California, on the set where director Christopher Nolan shot the climactic scene of his 2020 film “Tenet.” Smallbone was trying to convey freedom in the flight scenes.
“The outrageousness of flying through L.A., what I was trying to depict was a sense of us not being strapped down by our own judgments and coming to a place of receiving and loving people as they are and loving ourselves as we are and therefore we can be free,” he said.
To donate to FOR KING + COUNTRY’s fundraiser for Ukraine, visit convoy.org/forukraine or text forUKRAINE to 68828.