Dierks Bentley is well known for helping others and a having an extra big heart. Just last week, his 2014 Miles and Music for Kids event in Nashville raised a whopping $335,479 for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Now Bentley has done something super special for a fan who has been his champion long before he became a star.
Bentley's most recent heartwarming act, according to Christina Vinson at Taste of Country, was to take a fan battling cancer out of the hospital and onto the road for a cruise in the star's classic '67 Camaro.
Bentley met fan Ann Soyars at the Station Inn in Nashville around the time he was trying to make it big, playing gigs and building his group of loyal fans. Soyars was one of them – in fact, the singer calls her "O.F." which stands for "original fan." She was the one who booked talent, collected cover charges, officiated and so many other things at the Station Inn venue.
"Dierks Bentley was a kid who would sit in," Soyars tells the Tennessean newspaper. "I heard him one night, found out he had an independent CD, got it, and everything on it was great. We wound up being friends. I'd go to his shows, listen and sell his CDs, and I'd tell people, 'You better hang onto this, he's gonna be big someday.' "
Soyars has reportedly been battling cancer at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville.
"I thought I'd had a light stroke, so I went in for a CT scan yesterday," she explained in early September, "Now I'd be happy if it was a stroke. Results were that I have tumors on the brain, liver, kidney and lungs..."
Clearly, reports Taste of Country, Bentley has not forgotten Soyars' devotion to his music, even after a whole lot of hits, like his No. 1 single "Drunk On A Plane" and hit album "Riser."
And as any sweet friend would do, Bentley decided to raise Soyars' spirits and show her some gratitude, taking her for a pretty awesome ride. He even shared a picture of the rendezvous on Instagram, captioning, "Taking my pal Ann Soyars for one last ride in the '67 camero. she's hanging tough. enjoying good friends and music."
