Country musicians went all out for the 50th anniversary of the Country Music Awards on Wednesday.
Because it was the 50th anniversary, the show was full of throwbacks to past CMAs. Many country legends performed on the CMA stage, such as Charley Pride, Reba McEntire, Charlie Daniels, Alan Jackson, George Strait and Randy Travis. The Country Music Association honored Kenny Chesney with the Pinnacle Award and Dolly Parton with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Beyonce performed with the Dixie Chicks and Taylor Swift presented the last award of the night. The CMAs were star-studded, and there were a lot of amazing performances. Here are the best moments from the night:
Monumental opening
The 50th Country Music Awards opened with several country legends singing their most well-known songs. Vince Gill paid tribute to the late Merle Haggard by performing “Mama Tried” with the late singer’s son, Ben Haggard, who played guitar. A curtain lifted showing Brad Paisley in a bright yellow, bedazzled suit. He sang “Tiger By The Tail” with Buck Owens.
Carrie Underwood sang Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” Charley Pride joined Paisley for “Kiss an Angel Good Morning,” and Alabama sang their hit “Mountain Music.” With a fiddle in hand, Charlie Daniels performed “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Reba McEntire followed it up with “Fancy,” and Dwight Yoakam sang “Guitars, Cadillacs.” Clint Black came on stage and played “Killin’ TIme,” Ricky Skaggs performed “Country Boy,” and Alan Jackson sang “Don’t Rock the Jukebox.” They concluded the performance by honoring Randy Travis, who is the newest inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Everyone came back on stage to perform Travis’ “Forever and Ever Amen.” By the end of the performance, the crowd was on its feet and Miranda Lambert was crying.
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Paisley and Underwood get political and poke fun at Peyton Manning
In their opening monologue, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who have hosted for nine years straight, made their own parody song that poked fun at the upcoming election and celebrated the 50 years of country music with this one line: “Can you believe a whole bunch of hillbilly musicians have been doing this for 50 years?” Paisley and Underwood pointed out that every winner of Male and Female Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year are in the audience. This worried Underwood, who thought they were going to be the target of a massive attack. Paisley assured her there is a “designated survivor” in the basement of the Grand ‘Ole Opry: Billy Ray Cyrus. Yes, if every country music legend were to die in an attack, the fate of country music would be in the hands of the “Achy Breaky Heart Singer.” Let that sink in for a minute, folks. When they looked out to the audience, they spotted former quarterback Peyton Manning, which sparked a back and forth conversation to the Nationwide jingle:
Paisley and Underwood: “Oh my God there’s Peyton Manning.”
“Are you here to sell insurance?”
Manning: “No, I am here for one of my favorite singer.”
Underwood and Paisley, trying to look pretty: “Oh my gosh, is it me.”
Manning’s witty response: “No, it’s not, it’s Kenny Chesney,” he said pointing to the country star sitting two seats down from him.
Underwood and Paisley responded: “Eli Manning is our favorite QB.”
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Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood get cute on stage
Two-time Entertainer of the Year Barbara Mandrell introduced Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, who sang a medley of famous songs. Here are all of the songs the country couple sang: “Jackson” by Johnny Cash, “Chug-a-Lug” by Roger Miller, “Don’t Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle, “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” by Alan Jackson and Martina McBride, “Rose garden” by Lynn Anderson, “Don’t Close Your Eyes” by Keith Whitley and “Golden Ring” by George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Before leaving the stage, Brooks gave his wife of almost 11 years a big smooch. That is real relationship goals right there people.
The cutest couple in country music. So much chemistry. He gives her a big smooch before they head off stage.
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McConaughey and McGraw
Matthew McConaughey introduced Tim McGraw with his deep, slow voice. Before the introduction, McConaughey gave a huge speech about values — and included his catchphrase, “All right, all right, all right.” When McGraw finally got to sing, the stage was pitch black with a single spotlight on him as he performed “Humble and Kind.” A montage of people from all different cultures and ethnic backgrounds appeared on a screen behind McGraw. At the end of the song, children of all ages came out holding candles. McGraw’s song delivered a great message to all viewers. The best part about country music is the message behind the song — at least behind most songs.
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Two country legends perform together
Alan Jackson and George Strait performed “Remember When” and “Troubadour,” respectively, in their big country hats. There was a mosaic-like screen that showed all of the artists they’ve lost in the past, and clips from past CMAs were shown. Having two modern country legends on the same stage is a great addition to the CMA performance lineup.
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Beyonce on the CMAs?
Queen B herself, along with the Dixie Chicks, performed “Daddy Lessons.” The song is from Beyonce’s Lemonade album. This version of the song featured a banjo, harmonica, acoustic guitars and other instruments. The country musicians in the audience seemed to appreciate having the pop singer’s appearance on the award show.
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The Pinnacle Award
Peyton Manning presented the Pinnacle Award to Kenny Chesney. The award is to honor country artists who manage to go global with country music. The Pinnacle Award has only been awarded twice before — first in 2005 to Garth Brooks and the second time in 2013 to Taylor Swift. Manning voiced over the video montage of his career and people congratulating him. When Chesney walked up the steps to the stage, he received a standing ovation. He thanked a lot of people part of his crew and said “to me it means connection” to the people who helped him get there and all of the fans that supported him. He concluded by saying, “Thank you for giving me an amazing life.”
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Female and Male Vocalist of the Year
Out of the nominees for Female Vocalist of the Year — Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Carrie Underwood — co-host Underwood won for the fourth time in her career. When she couldn't think of anything else to say, Underwood exclaimed, “I’ve just become suddenly stupid!” The Male Vocalist of the Year nominees included Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban. The award went to Stapleton, who won the same award one other time. The soft-spoken Stapleton accepted the award and said country music is the best in the world.
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Good Golly, Miss Dolly
Dolly Parton was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Actress and comedian Lily Tomlin introduced the artists that celebrated Parton. A cappella group Pentatonix and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland kicked off the medley with “Jolene.” Parton looked tickled pink when the camera picked her out in the audience. Reba McEntire fumbled over the lyrics to “9 to 5” because she got nervous when she saw Parton in the audience. Kacey Musgraves performed “Here You Come Again.” Underwood, Martina McBride, Musgraves and Nettles all sang Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which was famously remade by Whitney Houston in 1992. “I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to mess up my eyelashes,” Parton said when went on stage to accept the award. “This is an absolute high for me,” she said, putting an emphasis on “high” because Nelson is known for smoking one too many, if you know what I’m saying.
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T-Swift returns
The former country star returned to the CMAs to present the last award of the night: Entertainer of the Year. Swift was nominated for the same award four times and won twice.
The nominees for the night’s top honor were Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Garth Brooks, who made his return to country music this past year, hugged all of the nominees before accepting the award. The audience screamed as Brooks tipped his hat. As he spoke, he cradled the award as if it were his baby. He thanked many people, including his wife, Trisha Yearwood, and concluded his speech with, “We are so damn lucky to be a part of this thing called country music.”
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Well, that’s a wrap on the 50th Country Music Awards. If you’re wondering who won, you can visit this website to view the complete list of winners. Until next year.
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