Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty
Accepting his CMT Artist of the Year award on Wednesday,Chris Stapletonmade note of the fact that he’d won the honor a couple of times before, but he said, “This show is different tonight.”
And in the pandemic era, how could it not be? Everyone in the audience at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Hall had been tested twice for COVID-19 just to enter the space. The room wasn’t filled to even half capacity, and masks were required during commercial breaks.
But Stapleton’s mind wasn’t on any of that in the midst of an event that somehow managed to transcend the presence of the world’s most uninvited guest. He spoke near the end of the 100-minute show, after listening to so many of his fellow award recipients express humble gratitude and watching performances that were remarkably selfless.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in a room with a lot of folks again, really,” Stapleton emotionally told the crowd, mostly from the Nashville music community. “We’ve done some of these things remotely, but I feel a lot of love in the room tonight … And that’s what music’s about. It’s about love.”
Jason Kempin/Getty
Granted, no one was ready to thank a coronavirus for the spirit that Stapleton identified, but no one could argue he was right. This night was different — and perhaps much of it had to do with the fact that one of country’s most beloved icons,Randy Travis,was also being honored with the Artist of a Lifetime award.
Early in the eveningLuke Combs,after performing his hit “Forever After All,” strayed from his customary litany of thanks in his Artist of the Year acceptance speech to pay homage to Travis.
“Randy, I watched you play in this building a few years ago with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and I was absolutely blown away,” Combs told the country icon, who was seated in the audience. “And to be in the same room with you in the same place and have a small fraction of an impact on country music like you’ve had, man, is incredible.”
“Randy, thank you for letting me do this, brother,” Brown told Travis before his first note. “You know I love you to death.”
Garth Brookswas ultimately the one tapped to usher Travis to the stage, and he did so with an extravagantly generous introduction from one country king to another.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Randy Travis single-handedly saved country music,” said Brooks, who also inductedTravis into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. “Even though it happened in the ’80s, it’s still today. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for Randy Travis. I don’t think any of us would be.”
In her acceptance speech, Guyton spoke movingly about finally gaining entrance, as a Black woman, into the Nashville artist community. “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window,” she said, “and in my case, he shattered a whole glass ceiling.”
Looking out into her audience, she noted that “so many of you guys put me on a platform, when you had no incentive to do so, and I take that, and I honor that, and I will do the same and work for other up-and-coming artists.”
She’d already paid it forward in the duet: Both she and Yola are fully capable of vocal pyrotechnics, but Guyton let Yola be the one to set off the biggest sonic fireworks, and their stunning display of sisterhood lifted the audience to their feet.
(Earlier, on the red carpet, Yola revealed their rehearsal was special in a different way: “It was emotional. There were tears. They were ours. We were crying, and it was just being aware of how much of a moment it is.")
Stapleton himself provided one of the evening’s most unselfish gestures, choosing to give away his coveted performance slot.
His presenter, formerNashvillestarConnie Britton,explained his decision in her introduction. “When we asked him what song he wanted to play,” she said, “he turned around and asked some of his heroes to make one of his songs their own.”
“I don’t think that’s Chris Stapleton’s ‘Cold’ anymore,” he said as he accepted his trophy. “That’s Boyz II Men’s ‘Cold.’ How awesome is that?”
Other memorable, heart-touching moments arrived over the course of the show.
“It may have taken the voice,” she said, “but it didn’t take the man, and it didn’t take the heart. And you know what else? It didn’t take the music. We’ll have that forever and ever, amen.” It was a poignant nod, of course, to Travis' signature song.
Her appearance was recorded on Sept. 17; she and the brothers, who performedthe Beatles'“With a Little Help From My Friends,” were actually in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday night.
RapperNelly,who just released a country-inspired album, should have received his own award for the evening after his heroic battle with an uncooperative teleprompter as he introduced pal and collaboratorKane Brown. The artist’s halting delivery was at first puzzling — until he’d finally had enough, stopped his recitation and took command.
“Hold on … It’s moving too fast,” he exclaimed in frustration. “I can’t see it. Please could you make those letters a tad bit bigger? There you go. Let’s try that one more time.”
Whereupon he started again from the top and flawlessly delivered the script.
source: people.com
