Chris Young and Kane Brown performed their Collaborative Video Of The Year track, “Famous Friends” during the 2021 CMT Music Awards.
Live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., the superstar pair close the awards show with their chart-climbing collaborative hit, marking the second live performance of the track ever, following the debut performance at the ACM Awards earlier this year.
Throughout their performance, cardboard cutouts of their “famous friends,” including Lady A’s Charles Kelley, Carly Pearce, Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean and so many more.
“Really excited, actually performing a song that has a nomination this year with my buddy Kane Brown, ‘Famous Friends,’” Young explained ahead of their performance. “Just a song that’s had this crazy run up the charts, getting ready to hit the summer and we’re going to have a lot of fun with it. It’s going to be a special kind of performance for everybody. A different look from what they’ve seen out of the two of us before and yeah, it’s going to be over the top.”
What better way to close out the #CMTAwards than a performance by @kanebrown and @ChrisYoungMusic?! We love these "famous friends" ❤️ pic.twitter.com/KCmiM87yOr
— CMT (@CMT) June 10, 2021
“Famous Friends” will appear on Young’s just-announced new album of the same name, which is due out in August and is available now for preorder.
Co-hosted by superstars Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown, the 2021 CMT Music Awards aired on Wednesday, June 9 and featured performances from Ballerini with Paul Klein from LANY.
Additionally, the two-hour event included collaborations from BRELAND and Mickey Guyton, Brothers Osborne and Dierks Bentley, H.E.R. and Chris Stapleton, Ingrid Andress and JP Saxe, Lady A with Carly Pearce and Lindsay Ell, Lauren Alaina and Jon Pardi, Mickey Guyton and Gladys Knight, Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall and NEEDTOBREATHE with Carrie Underwood.
Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett also performed while Blanco Brown, Dylan Scott, Hailey Whitters, Lainey Wilson, Niko Moon and Tenille Arts appeared on the Ram Trucks Side Stage.
Presenters included Anthony Mackie, Brett Young, Busy Philipps, Carly Pearce, Dylan Scott, Gladys Knight, Iliza Shlesinger, Little Big Town, Michael Strahan, Mickey Guyton, Restless Road, Tennessee Titans’ Taylor Lewan and Trace Adkins, as well as CMT Hot 20 Countdown hosts Cody Alan, Katie Cook and Ashley ShahAhmadi.
