AceShowbiz - Country star Kacey Musgraves has raised $50,000 (£36,000) and counting for relief efforts in her native Texas by creating a new T-shirt poking fun at under-fire state Senator Ted Cruz.

The politician is facing calls to resign after he was caught jetting off to vacation resort Cancun, Mexico with his family on Wednesday (17Feb21) to escape the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri, which had left hundreds of thousands of Texas residents without heat and electricity, and for some, clean water, while facing freezing temperatures.

The shamed Republican senator flew back to Texas on Thursday night to face the uproar, admitting it was "obviously a mistake" and now Kacey has decided to sell a new piece of merchandise taking a dig at Cruz's controversy - all in the name of charity.

The "Follow Your Arrow" hitmaker first teased the idea on Twitter on Thursday, quipping to her fans, "Link coming soon. Don't RUN OFF anywhere..."

Hours later, she returned with a website link to the white T-shirt, which features the phrase, "Cruzin' for a Bruzin'."

"Texas is cold, I can be cold," she wrote alongside the tweet, a play on the lyrics to her track "Slow Burn", in which she originally sings, "Texas is hot, I can be cold."

The shirts, priced at $29.99 (£21.55) are only available to purchase until Sunday, with all proceeds benefitting local charities such as Feed the People Dallas, and the American Red Cross of Central & South Texas.

Alongside the site listing, Kacey notes she isn't actually asking for people to be beaten up. "No actual bruisings plz (sic)," she pleaded.

By Friday morning, the musician revealed her novelty item had already helped her raise $50,000 for good causes.

"Life gave us lemons and I'm honestly just here innocently serving lemonade," she posted.