<\/p>\n
During a wildly successful cancer research benefit concert in Gainesville on March 7, original Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch joined Sister Hazel and Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik to close the show with the Heartbreakers classic \u201cAmerican Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n The surprise appearance brought the thunderous crowd to its feet and prompted the performers to circle Lynch in a half\u2011moon of applause and respect.<\/p>\n It was a fitting \u2014 and emotional \u2014 nod to Gainesville\u2019s rich rock \u2019n\u2019 roll history, as Gainesville\u2011bred Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Lynch and Gainesville\u2011bred, platinum\u2011selling Sister Hazel performed a song that, depending on who you talk to, references Gainesville.<\/p>\n But it was also a celebration of community and philanthropy, as Lyrics For Life raised more than $800,000 for the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation and STOP! Children\u2019s Cancer. To date, the concert series has raised more than $6 million for cancer research and patient care, including more than $3.5 million generated through its annual events in Gainesville alone, according to the nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a room full of love tonight,\u201d Rzeznik told the crowd. \u201cYou came out to a show, you got dressed up, and you\u2019re here for something bigger than all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Presented by Rich and Carissa Blaser, the evening began with an acoustic storytelling performance by Sister Hazel\u2019s Ken Block and Drew Copeland, along with special guest John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. The trio performed stripped\u2011down versions of some of their most beloved songs while sharing personal stories with the audience.<\/p>\n One of the evening\u2019s most powerful moments came when pediatric cancer patient Haley Williams took the stage to perform \u201cYou Don\u2019t Know Me,\u201d a song written by Paul Privette that reflects the realities of a cancer journey and the hope made possible through the support of others. Her performance brought the audience to tears and inspired an immediate giving moment that raised more than $80,000 during the song alone.<\/p>\n Sister Hazel\u2019s Lyrics For Life was founded by lead singer Ken Block in honor of his late brother, Jeffrey Block, who died of cancer as a teenager.<\/p>\n A major beneficiary of the organization has been STOP! Children\u2019s Cancer, which has received more than $1.2 million from Lyrics For Life to support pediatric oncology programs at UF Health. That support has helped researchers achieve a cure rate exceeding 92% for the type of cancer Jeffrey Block faced \u2014 a milestone that highlights the organization\u2019s real\u2011world impact.<\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.gainesville.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During a wildly successful cancer research benefit concert in Gainesville on March 7, original Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch joined Sister Hazel and Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik to close the show with the Heartbreakers classic \u201cAmerican Girl.\u201d The surprise appearance brought the thunderous crowd to its feet and prompted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2321649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[39915,30218,28769,22220,384966,444270,23383,21751,239390,24144,240459,22005,239661,423058,6297,284334,21741,22783,116640,350154,423057,423059,363689,449961,51971,21739,298114,21800,21738,239343,239347,359790,25658,23759,21939,22366,23152,284335,35643,312902,364475,239344],"class_list":["post-2321648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-affiliate","tag-ai","tag-and","tag-arts","tag-benefit","tag-benefit-concerts","tag-cancer","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrities-u0026-entertainment-news","tag-charity","tag-charity-u0026-philanthropy","tag-concerts","tag-concerts-u0026-music-festivals","tag-dolls","tag-eamotion","tag-enabled","tag-entertainment","tag-festivals","tag-fl","tag-gainesville","tag-goo","tag-goo-goo-dolls-music-group","tag-group","tag-heartbreakers","tag-highlights","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-music","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-petty","tag-philanthropy","tag-positive","tag-rock","tag-rock-music","tag-story","tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","tag-the","tag-tom","tag-tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers","tag-u0026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Stan-Lynch-surprises-Gainesville-crowd-at-Lyrics-for-Life.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2321650,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321648\/revisions\/2321650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}