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Billy Ray Cyrus, the country singer best known for his 1992 hit song Achy Breaky Heart (video below) and for being the father of controversial pop star Miley Cyrus, will perform a Fourth of July weekend benefit concert for veterans in Tahoe.
Red, White & Tahoe Blue, Incline Village’s Fourth of July weekend celebration, features two large concerts this year. Reno Philharmonics Orchestra performs Friday, July 4, and Cyrus performs Saturday, July 5.
Cyrus’s performance will include a special tribute to U.S. Marine Michael Landsberry, who was shot and killed at Sparks Middle School on Oct. 21, 2013. Landsberry was a math teacher at the school who, after confronting the 12-year-old gunman, was shot and killed. Two students were wounded as well.
The board of the Red, White & Tahoe Blue event wanted to make this year’s concert better by adding more to the line-up. “Everyone on the board put their feelers out, and someone had a connection to Cyrus,” said Lee Koch, executive director of Red, White & Tahoe Blue. “Cyrus is a huge fan of Lake Tahoe.”
Cyrus had read about the death of Landsberry and wanted to make this concert a tribute to the Marine’s courage and sacrifice. Cyrus is not a stranger to honoring servicemen. His hit song, Some Gave All, is a tribute to the troops and earned the first-ever Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Bob Hope Award for excellence in entertainment in 1995. At the Tahoe concert, Landsberry’s wife, Sharon, will be escorted on stage, where Cyrus will present her with a special gift. (It’s so special that the surprise is being kept under wraps.)
Koch stresses that you don’t have to be a fan of country music to enjoy this concert. Spectators will enjoy great music and honor a fallen hero’s legacy, and proceeds from the event will benefit veterans.
