Eric Church Uses Guitar to Explain Life at UNC Graduation. See the Musical Moment.
Church told graduates he struggled through multiple drafts before using music to frame lessons on faith, family and authenticity.
- The Grammy-nominated country music star Eric Church delivered a commencement speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on May 9, addressing the 2026 graduates.
- After tearing up multiple drafts, Church sat down with his guitar to find his message; the native of Granite Falls, North Carolina, eventually discovered the right approach through music.
- Describing life as a guitar, Church identified 'six strings' representing fundamental pillars: faith, family, marriage, ambition and resilience, community, and authenticity, calling faith 'the low E of your life.'
- He urged students to make adjustments instead of turning up the volume, explaining that the difference between music and noise is whether one stops and listens for out-of-tune strings.
- In true Carolinian fashion, Church closed his speech with a performance of his 2009 song 'Carolina,' encouraging students to 'take your six strings, make it something worth hearing and play your song.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Eric Church's viral commencement to UNC Class of '26
On Saturday, American singer and songwriter Eric Church delivered a heartfelt commencement address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to the graduating class of 2026. Church is a North Carolina native and Appalachian State graduate. Born and raised in Granite Falls, North Carolina, his deep ties and passion for North Carolina brought an energy to Kenan Memorial Stadium that was met with a standing ovation. A renowned figure in th…
Take it away, Eric Church
Andrew Stiles reminds me at the end of his weekly Stiles Section column this week. I meant to call a timeout for the commencement speech Eric Church gave at UNC-Chapel Hill this past weekend after I read Dante the Don’s testimonial to it on X. Church is the highly successful country music singer singer/songwriter. As the powers-that-be at UNC-Chapel Hill explain, Church delivered a commencement speech structured on the six strings of a guitar. T…
Eric Church's uses his guitar to deliver one of the most powerful addresses ever at UNC commencement – Democratic Accent
I don’t usually like to get too deep or serious around here. We have enough of that everywhere else, quite frankly. I like to keep it light, loose, and funny. That’s my wheelhouse. That’s where I’m comfortable. Sometimes, though, you stumble across something on the timeline that you can’t ignore. I didn’t think I’d spend 20 minutes today watching Eric Church give a University of North Carolina commencement speech, but it’s what I did. And then I…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
