Randy Travi’s wife Mary Davis accepts the CMT Artist of a Lifetime award on her husband’s behalf from Garth Brooks (Photo courtesy of CMT)
CMT Honours Artists Of The Year
CMT recognized the year’s biggest acts in a heartfelt and unforgettable ceremony live from Nashville on Wednesday, October 13th.
The artists honoured as this year’s 2021 “CMT Artists of the Year” were Chris Stapleton, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini and Luke Combs, alongside “Breakout Artist of the Year” Mickey Guyton and “Artist of a Lifetime” Randy Travis.
The evening kicked off with honoree Luke Combs performing his hit, “Forever After All,” and accepting his award from friend Eric Church. Combs thanked the fans and his wife and gave a special call-out to Randy Travis for his enduring influence on the format.
Next, Gabby Barrett was lauded by Grammy award-winning Christian artist Michael W. Smith who introduced a moving performance of her No. 1 hit song, “The Good Ones,” backed by her husband and guitarist.
Presenter Misty Copeland introduced “Breakout Artist of the Year” Mickey Guyton who, alongside friend and musician, Yola, garnered the first standing ovation of the evening with a powerful world premiere version of Guyton’s song, “Remember Her Name.”
The evening’s second standing ovation came when Garth Brooks introduced friend and country legend, Randy Travis, with the highly-coveted “Artist of a Lifetime” Award. Travis and his wife Mary Davis joined Brooks onstage to accept the honour as Davis thanked the fans on Randy’s behalf.
Honoree Kane Brown was introduced by friend Nelly before taking the stage to honour Travis by singing one of his biggest hits, “Three Wooden Crosses.”
Brown then accepted his own 2021 honour, thanking the fans and remembering his bandmate and drummer who passed away in 2019, days before Brown’s first “Artists of the Year” distinction.
Next, Grammy Award-winning artists Boys II Men, joined by Pentatonix’s Kevin Olusola honoured Chris Stapleton with the first-ever performance of his song, “Cold.” Stapleton admitted to being “humbled” by CMT’s honour and acknowledged being moved by all the “love in the room” as he accepted his award from friend Connie Britton.
The final honoree celebrated was Kelsea Ballerini whose husband, country artist Morgan Evans introduced her performance with tourmates Jonas Brothers. Performing “With a Little Help From My Friends” from their tour stop in Franklin, Tenn., Ballerini accepted her award from Nick Jonas, thanking fans for their support.
The evening concluded with Walker Hayes who got the audience on its feet as he performed his smash viral hit “Fancy Like,” a song recognized as one of the most memorable phenomenons this year.
For more on show visit www.cmt.com.
