To Brian's family, friends, fans, and fellow performers - If you know Brian, you already know the kind of person he is. We urge you to put that knowledge aside and try to remember he is also humble, kind, witty, and generous with time and talent. He's the friend who will answer the call at a moment's notice to help someone in need. He remembers the names in the audience and personally reaches out to repeaters and has what becomes more rare daily, the ability to make every audience member feel seen and valued.

If you’ve heard him sing as Orbison or Twitty, you will already know their qualities he shares. Roy Orbison, the gentleman, consistently called a “gentle man” or Conway Twitty, “the best friend a song ever had.” All this while remaining just our Brian.

A simple request on a weekend afternoon changed everything. Friends who were karaoke jockeys invited a bunch of their country club regulars to a backyard barbecue and friendly singing session. People challenged each other to increasingly difficult songs, and someone tagged Brian and said “Crying.” And that changed everything.

People stopped chatting and chewing, and in the three and a half minutes of that song, Brian's life had been altered. A professional Elvis act heard the lightning in the bottle and offered Brian the chance to open shows for him then and there. And within weeks, exactly, that began to happen.

The phone began to ring, and our guy was off to open a show in Maine or Connecticut or Vermont or New Hampshire or New York State, or soon, Toronto. What Ho? An international booking? Wouldn't that be something?

This is when everything accelerated. Shows every weekend, more Elvis's bigger shows, more. Elvis's bigger theaters, bigger crowds, more Elvis's working with Elvis' now big enough to hire Presley's actual backup group, the Jordanaires. Good reviews from them, as they knew Orbison personally.

Finally, after having been mailed a videotaped performance without Brian's knowledge, Legends in Concert, which had been the premier tribute show since 1984 called from Las Vegas and virtually sight unseen, wanted Brian in their stable of Acts. Brian accepted their summer long contract at Atlantic City and never looked back.

But we know all of the changes the next three decades brought to Brian Right. He became an enormous star and a demanding prima donna. He insisted on everyone doing things his way, and he dumped all of what he called the little people from his past and old friends never heard from him again, right?

Well, no, hardly. Instead, he liked to believe each audience became his friends, and that circle grew. Fellow Tribute Artists and backing band members alike have often said Brian “set the standard for authenticity and professionalism,” showing others what it truly means to pay honor to the artists they celebrate by honorably representing them. While over the years, the tours got bigger and the miles longer, the theaters more prestigious and the audiences larger, whether across Canada, down the coasts of the East and West side of the United States, to cruising pleasure craft of the Caribbean for months on end, or to Mexico and even Ireland. Brian remained grounded and grateful, grateful to his audience he adopted as friends. He was not out chasing fame, though some came, his Chase was for connection by presenting his honest tributes to Conway and Roy.

And now for Brian, we must come asking.

For longer than originally thought likely. Brian has been fighting with insidious pancreatic cancer. It was thought unlikely he could last this long. Most of its victims do not.

When the disease reached the stage where Brian felt he could no longer perform to his own demanding standards, he dimmed the spotlight on his career and gave up the road, the applause, and the income three years ago.

This is why we're asking! The cancer treatments have ended. No more options or miracle cures are coming. Brian is in the end stage of life, facing the curtain with the same quiet dignity we have come to expect from the man. He's been asked if he feels anger at God or the universe for the hand he's been dealt. His response typically, Brian, “Why should I feel anger? I came here without exemptions. Nothing was written for me that said everything would be happy and to my liking. I've had a gift handed to me all my life, and I can only be grateful I was bright enough to receive it.”

If Brian has ever lifted your spirit with a song, made you smile, stirred a memory, or helped create one, we hold out our hand to you join us in taking the opportunity to give a bit of something back to Brian for all of the years of love.

The burden of medical and living expenses draws us to make this request for him, and we have not even discussed his very humble desires for the disposition of his remains when this disease has extinguished his flame, you will undoubtedly know the costs associated with even the simplest of funeral and burial arrangements.

Your contribution will join others to help cover:

First, his ongoing efforts to manage his medical and living expenses. Brian’s Medicaid application was denied because he is still half owner of his former home in South Carolina, where Jean is still living. He can’t sell his half share, but MassHealth counts this as an available asset. Any medical expenses not covered by Medicare Part A must come out of his pocket. Brian’s food and other living expenses have so far exceeded his monthly social security benefits. The need is real.

Second, funeral and burial costs to ensure his lasting dignity and peace of mind - knowing Brian, you will know that the lasting nature of a burial and a well-documented funeral would be of tremendous importance to him.

We know, and you now know, while Brian tries to smile through, the current financial burden is substantial and does not help his peace of mind. Any meager savings he had are long gone. This fundraiser will help to restore a bit of the quiet dignity with which he has always tried to run his life, and to have an opportunity to show him the kind of concern and love he has always shown to others.

Please donate directly to this campaign if you are able. It’s the most effective way to make sure funds go where they are most needed, and that Brian’s eligibility for benefits continues. Share this notice online if you can’t immediately donate. Perhaps that will be the spur someone needs to act upon

Even with the amount of love in the air, Brian needs reminding that he is cherished, celebrated, and not alone.

Thanks for generously stepping up and jumping in the chorus we’re building to help carry Brian’s spirit on that next big, bright stage!