NEW YORK (AP) – What Winans and Carrie Underwood brought to the Church Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday.
The gospel legend and the country’s superstar have joined forces for a strong, top performance, which was the highlight of the show, although the event is still active for another two hours.
Underwood performed songs from her recent album Gospel Hymns “My Savior,” and she and Winans mixed their voices like angels on stage. Underwood kicked off the show with “Amazing Grace” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and then Winans joined in, matching his powerful vocal performance.
Moments of collaboration were a theme during the awards show.
Miranda Lambert, the most decorated artist in the history of the ACM awards, kicked off the show with rock-pop singer Elle King for a fun and energetic performance of their new duet. Lambert and King wore matching outfits – a completely black ensemble with pink fringes hanging from King’s blue and Lambert leather jacket – and sang the antique song “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” by Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee.
The show, like many aired Sunday night, was pre-recorded at various locations in Nashville, including Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe, in front of small audiences of medical workers.
Lambert, who founded MuttNation, a pet shelter, also starred opposite Chris Stapleton in “Maggie’s Song,” a tribute to Stapleton’s dog who died in 2019. Dierks Bentley was also memorable on stage, singing U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love)” with The War and Treaty, the extremely talented husband and wife duo.
Another couple lit up the scene on Sunday: Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd sang, ending with a kiss. Later, Morris won the song of the year for his Grammy-nominated hit, “The Bones,” which topped the country music charts for months last year.
“When I wrote (‘The Bones’) I was now meeting my husband and it was just a song for him. And I feel that sometimes the songs know you better than you know them at the time. And I feel like this song has revealed so many new things to me, ”a tear-eyed Morris said on stage. “And this year has been a hell of a year and we hope that country music and maybe even this song have brought peace to your family and friends.”
Among others are Blake Shelton, Alan Jackson, Dan + Shay, Osborne Brothers and Ashley McBryde.
Lambert, who won 35 ACMs, is nominated for five honors and has a chance to extend his record. He does not compete for the show’s biggest prize, the host of the year, where all the nominees are male artists. Candidates for this year’s show include Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church and Thomas Rhett, who won the honor last year on a par with Underwood.
Bryan, who was supposed to perform at the awards, dropped out of the event because he recently tested positive for coronavirus. All the other nominees of the year nominated will perform.
Another big name in country music is missing from the show: Morgan Wallen. The singer, whose latest album and singles were a major hit in both the country’s top and pop charts, was declared ineligible by the ACM after he was caught in the room earlier this year using a racial insult.
Phillip Sweet from Little Big Town will also not participate in the show, as he recently gave positive results at COVID-19, and his band will play without him.
Stapleton and Morris are nominated for the top by six. Stapleton’s nominations included the album, song and male artist of the year. Morris’ nominations included the single artist and woman of the year. He also won a group of the year in the lead as a member of the Highwomen – the supergroup with Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby – but lost to Old Dominion.
The award was presented by Blanco Brown, who made his first public appearance on Sunday after suffering significant injuries in a frontal collision of the vehicle last year..
Some of the ACM winners have been announced in advance, including Gabby Barrett (new female artist), Jimmie Allen (new male artist) and Kane Brown (video of the year). Carly Pearce and Lee Brice’s platinum hit “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” co-written by Combs, won the musical event of the year.