Timothy Kuratek/CBS ©2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc.For the first time ever, the ACM Honors airs tonight as a two-hour special on CBS. Taped last week at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, one of the centerpieces of the night is a special tribute to Glen Campbell.
“I think that Glen is just one of those icons that has fully shaped what country music is today,” Thomas Rhett mused before the show. “Glen really stood out for somebody like me who was definitely a singer/songwriter and a storyteller. I think that’s where people like [me] learn how to write songs, period, when we listen to classic music like Glen’s.”
Keith Urban is one of the artists who played in an all-star medley of the Country Music Hall of Famer’s hits.
“Glen’s been a real influence for me, his guitar-playing, his singing,” the Australian superstar said. “We always talk about pop-country and what’s going on, but you look at somebody like Glen and what he did with The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour in bringing so much diversity into his world, and exposing so many country artists to the outside world, as well. And blending and fusing and collaborating with a myriad of people. He really was so light years ahead of his time.”
Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley and Toby Keith join the “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer for the musical homage to the “Rhinestone Cowboy,” in a mash-up that includes “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Gentle on My Mind” and “Southern Nights.”
You can see the performance when the 10th Annual ACM Honors premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
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