CMAWednesday night’s CMA Awards, which aired live from Nashville on ABC, was packed with musical performances from the year’s top artists, and some unexpected collaborations provided highlights. Here’s who sang what:
The show opened with Eric Church and Hank Williams, Jr. performing a raucous version of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country.” Church returned later in the show to sing his new song, “Mr. Misunderstood.”
Keith Urban duetted with John Mellencamp on the latter’s “Pink Houses.” Mellencamp left the stage and Urban sang “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”
Zac Brown – in a rare hatless appearance – was joined by his band for a performance of “Beautiful Drug,” from their album Jekyll & Hyde.
Kenny Chesney performed “Save It for a Rainy Day” and Sam Hunt sang “Take Your Time.”
Co-host Carrie Underwood performed “Smoke Break.”
One of the night’s big winners, Chris Stapleton, teamed up with pop superstar Justin Timberlake for a soulful medley featuring Chris’ “Tennessee Whiskey” and JT’s “Drink You Away.”
Florida Georgia Line performed “Confession.”
Thomas Rhett joined rock band Fall Out Boy for a medley of Rhett’s “Crash and Burn” and Fall Out Boy’s “Uma Thurman,” surrounded by a group of dancers.
Kelsea Ballerini did a brief performance of “Love Me Like You Mean It.”
Co-host Brad Paisley performed “Country Nation” and Blake Shelton sang “Gonna.”
Maddie & Tae performed “Girl in a Country Song,” followed by Luke Bryan with “Strip It Down.”
Miranda Lambert gave an emotional performance of “Bathroom Sink,” the heartbreaker from her Platinum album.
Jason Aldean blew the roof off the Bridgestone Arena with his performance of “Gonna Know We Were Here.”
Kasey Musgraves sang “Dime Store Cowgirl” and Dierks Bentley performed “Riser.”
The last musical performance of the night belonged to Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire, who sang a medley of Reba’s ”Why Haven’t I Heard from You” and Kix and Ronnie’s “Play Something Country.”
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