Country music star Eric Church earned praise for delivering the “greatest” commencement speech with his now-viral address to University of North Carolina graduates — after working on the piece for nearly a year.
Church – armed with a Tar Heel-emblazoned guitar – invoked family and faith as he dedicated his oration by giving a lesson on the instrument, explaining what each of the “six strings” means at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill on May 9.
“Six strings. When all six are in tune, the chords they make can stop a conversation cold, carry a broken person through the worst night of their life, or make a room full of strangers feel for three minutes like they’ve known each other forever,” Church told the crowd. “And if even one is off, the whole chord unravels. Not gradually, not politely, the moment you strike it, you know.”
The 49-year-old Grammy-nominated singer started with the “low E” string of the guitar, the thickest, lowest note on the instrument.
“Your faith is the low E of your life. The thing that sits at the very bottom of you,” he said. “The people who tend to their faith in ordinary seasons do not come undone in extraordinary ones.”
“The world will try to untune this string. Through busyness, through slow accumulation of a full schedule, a full inbox, a full life. Listen to me. Tend to your faith. Not just when you’re broken, but when you’re whole,” he said.
Church turned to the “A” string, comparing it to family and pointing the Class of 2026 to the stands and their loved ones, who “loved you longer than you’ve been easy to love.”
“And the A string is where the music starts to get warm. It gives a chord its body, its richness. It’s the string that makes you feel like you’re not alone in a room,”
The North Carolina native cautioned attendees not to let their soon-to-be-busy schedules get in the way of their families.
“Call your people. Not when there’s news. Not when there’s nothing. Show up when it costs you something. Let them see you when things are hard. The A string is not a holiday string. It’s an everyday string. Protect it,” he said.
Church, a lifelong Tar Heels fan who graduated from Appalachian State, referred to the “D” string as the “heart of the chord,” likening it to a soul mate.
“To rock a full chord in a D string is what you feel in the center of your chest. That is not an accident,” he said. “That is exactly what the right spouse and partner will do for your life. The person you choose to share your life with is the most important decision you will ever make outside of your faith.
“The right partner is the string that makes the whole chord ring fuller and warmer and truer than anything you could ever play alone. Choose them wisely, and then love them fiercely,” he added.
Church earned a good chuckle from the crowd when he introduced the fourth string, “the G-string.”
The risque-sounding note often drifts faster than its counterparts because “ambition and resilience” pull at it in different directions, Church revealed.
“When you fail, and you will fail, Hemingway wrote it plainly right in his sternum. ‘The world breaks everyone. Afterward, the best of us are stronger at the broken places.’ Get back up. Tune the string, keep playing,” Church said.
Church urged the graduates to take note of the “B” string and its standing for community.
“Your generation faces the temptation no generation before has ever faced. The temptation to perform for everyone and belong to no one. To be globally visible and locally invisible. To have thousands of followers and no one actually knows where you live. Resist this,” he said.
“Plant yourself somewhere. Put down roots with the full intention of growing there. Learn the actual names, not usernames, of the people around you. Volunteer. Coach the team. Build the thing your community needs, even if the internet will never see it, Church advised.
The final string, the “high E,” the thinnest on the guitar, carries the melody against all the pressure.
“Someone’s comment, someone’s criticism, someone’s cold opinion is going to try to convince you to retune yourself to match what they think you should sound like. Do not let them touch your string,” he said.
Church’s speech, which he shared on YouTube, garnered highly positive feedback with many calling it the “best” and “greatest” graduation addresses in history.
“This is one of the best commencement speeches I’ve ever heard. Bravo, Mr. Church!!” one comment read.
“Wow, an absolutely incredible speech, so profound . Amazing job Mr. Church. God Bless You,” another commenter wrote.
“Might be the greatest commencement speech ever. ‘Play your six strings!’” said a third.
Church revealed that he had been working on the speech for nine months and only came up with the guitar delivery after a “fit of frustration.”
“I just couldn’t figure out how to do it and one night I grabbed a guitar to kinda soothe my soul and I just strummed the “G” chord,” he told CNN. “And it dawned on me, who am I kidding, I should do the speech just like this.”
Church said he was determined to build out the six pillars to replicate the strings and to deliver a “foundational message” that had been around for many generations.
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