Award-winning country singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson and his wife, respected attorney Brittney Johnson, have launched the Give It Away fund to provide help to those in need by supporting well-managed charities.
The fund focuses on charities that do work that is close to the couple’s hearts and assist communities experiencing natural disasters and other tragedies.
“We love helping people in need,” Jamey says. “This will allow us to direct money to certain places where there is considerable need.”
Adds Brittney, “Volunteer work has always been an important part of my life. One of the things I admired most about Jamey when we first met was his massive and generous heart. We share a love for helping people, and I think that has been an important part of our relationship from the beginning.”
The fund’s name came from the 2006 George Strait No. 1 hit, “Give It Away,” which Jamey co-wrote with Bill Anderson and Buddy Cannon. The song won Song of the Year at both the Country Music Association Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards.
“I laughed when we were talking about what the name of our foundation was going to be,” Jamey says. “At first, we thought it should be the In Color fund, and then I thought, ‘Wait a minute! I have a better song than that!’ Give It Away is the perfect name for any fund. It is exactly what we are doing with the money.”
Johnson will donate a dollar for every ticket sold at participating shows to his fund. In addition, he will donate all proceeds from the sale of a special T-shirt to his fund. It is available at his shows and online HERE.
Jamey is known for being among the first to help in times of need, whether it’s performing in a charity concert, making calls or donating money. For instance, he performed at George Strait’s “Strait To The Heart” benefit concert last month that raised more than $6 million for those affected by the flooding across Texas’ Hill Country. He will also perform at Robert Earl Keen's RFK and Friend's Applause for the Cause on Aug. 28 in New Braunfels, TX. More information on that event can be found HERE.
He is also known for his support of the Nikki Mitchell Foundation, which he co-founded in 2013 to help those who have pancreatic cancer. The Marine also works with Toys for Tots and other organizations that help veterans, military members and their families.
Brittney has been focused on helping others around the world years before she became an attorney. She taught in a school for women in Kenya, volunteered in an orphanage in Nairobi and participated in activism in a politically displaced persons camp in Kenya.
While attending the University of Mississippi School of Law, she was student coordinator of the school’s Pro Bono Initiative. While living in Mississippi, she was a member of the Junior League of Jackson. She also worked with therapy animals and helped provide hygiene services to the unhoused.
Now married and living in Nashville, the couple have unified their philanthropic hearts into one generous effort to create Give It Away so that they may continue stronger what they began apart.
For more information on the Give It Away fund, please visit https://www.jameyjohnson.com/give-it-away.html.
About Jamey Johnson:
The 10-time GRAMMY nominee has been called “one of the greatest country singers of our time,” by The Washington Post. His music has garnered international acclaim and is embraced by fans of classic and contemporary country, as well as Americana and mainstream rock.
The Grand Ole Opry member is also widely regarded as one of the greatest country songwriters of his generation. He is one of only two people in the history of country music (along with Kris Kristofferson) to win two Song of the Year awards in the same year – for “Give It Away” and “In Color” – from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.
A consummate storyteller, his songs have been recorded by George Strait, Trace Adkins, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, James Otto, Joe Nichols and others. He is “a first-rate preservationist of classic country songwriting…,” says The New York Times.
His 2024 album, Midnight Gasoline is a musical continuation of his last two solo studio albums, That Lonesome Song, which was certified double platinum for 2 million in sales, and the gold-certified 2010 album, The Guitar Song, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Album Chart. Rolling Stone and Spin named The Guitar Song to their all-genre Top 5 Best Albums of the Year. (He also released a 2012 duets project, the Grammy-nominated Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran.)
“In Color” has received a 5X-Platinum certification for sales/streams of five million, and “High Cost of Living” was certified platinum. “Between Jennings and Jones” and “That Lonesome Song” have been certified gold for sales/streams of 500,000.