Glen Campbell, Troy Gentry honored at CMA Awards
NASHVILLE — Glen Campbell, who died in August, was honored at the Country Music Association Awards during a touching performance of “Wichita Lineman” by Little Big Town and Jimmy Webb, who wrote the song.
The Grammy-winning country foursome sang the tune, while Webb played piano, at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday in Nashville.
Campbell also won an award: He posthumously won musical event of the year for “Funny How Time Slips Away” with Willie Nelson.
The CMA Awards, airing live on ABC, featured a number of emotional moments. Rascal Flatts and Dierks Bentley also paid homage to Troy Gentry, onehalf of the popular country duo Montgomery Gentry, who died in a helicopter crash in September. Eddie Montgomery later joined in for the performance of “My Town,” as some audience members sang along with tears in their eyes.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry also brought a serious vibe to the show, paying tribute to Charley Pride and said telling the audience now is the time we have to all “find some common ground” before presenting the album of the year award to Chris Stapleton.
“I’m always humbled by getting these things,” said Stapleton, who thanked his wife Morgane, who is pregnant with twins and was in the audience.
“I want to thank my kids and my kids that are on the way,” he added.
Eric Church, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum opened the CMA Awards with a memorable performance honoring the 58 people killed at a country music festival last month. The show kicked off with Church singing an emotional version of “Amazing Grace,” later joined by the other performers for “Hold My Hand.”
At the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, a gunman fired on the crowd from a hotel room while Jason Aldean was onstage. Nearly 500 people were injured.
Reba McEntire, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, Tim McGraw and others joined in to sing along, earning a large applause from the crowd.
“This has been a year marked my tragedy … Tonight we’re going to do what families do, come together, pray together, cry together and sing together, too,” co-host Carrie Underwood said.
“This show is dedicated to all those we lost,” fellow host Brad Paisley said.
Paisley and Underwood are celebrating their 10-year anniversary — as hosts of the CMAs. They joked at the top of the show about CMA sending restrictions to press about what to ask singers on the red carpet, saying they shouldn’t ask about politics or guns. They also riffed on politics, taking shots at both President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
“Maybe next time he’ll think before he tweets,” they sang to the beat of Underwood’s massive hit, “Before He Cheats.”