Keith Urban joins Lainey Wilson on CMA Awards stage for star-studded number
The 59th Annual CMA Awards kicked off Wednesday night on ABC with two electrifying performances.
Following a performance of "Back in the Saddle" by entertainer of the year nominee Luke Combs, CMA host and entertainer of the year nominee Lainey Wilson took the stage to deliver her opening remarks and perform a few songs as well.
"I am thrilled I get to be here with you, my favorite country artists," Wilson said. "Yours are the songs I've had queued up on my playlist when I'm around the fire, the ones that I crank up when I'm getting ready for the show, the ones that get me head-banging in the car -- now I guess I could keep talking about your songs, but how about I get my buddy Charlie Worsham up here and we sing 'em for y'all?"
Worsham then took to the stage with his guitar, and he and Wilson performed a rendition of "White Horse" by Chris Stapleton.
Afterward, Wilson headed into the audience to serenade Ella Langley with Langley's hit song, "you look like you love me."
Other songs Wilson performed included Lady A's "Need You Now," Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," Little Big Town's "Girl Crush," and Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead," singing each alongside the artists who made the songs famous, all of whom were seated in the audience.
Keith Urban then joined Wilson onstage for the final act in her opening number, performing his song "Where the Blacktop Ends."
Urban's performance with Wilson on Wednesday night marks the first televised awards show he has attended since his estranged wife Nicole Kidman filed for divorce from him in September.
The "Somebody Like You" singer did not walk the red carpet this year. For the 58th Annual CMA Awards last year, Urban walked the carpet solo.
Urban and Kidman's last CMA Awards appearance together was in 2023, for the 57th Annual CMA Awards.
In addition to Wilson and Urban, performances for the first half of this year's show included Zach Top, who performed his hit song "Guitar"; Megan Moroney, who performed her song "6 Months Later"; and Stapleton, who performed his song "Bad As I Used To Be" from the film, "F1."
