Little Big Town honored Miranda Lambert with a special tribute performance that brought the Texas native to tears during the 15th Annual ACM Honors at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
The award-winning quartet, composed of Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet, delivered an emotional cover of “The House That Built Me,” a track dubbed the ACM Song Of The Decade that was co-written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin that appears on Lambert’s third studio album, Revolution.
The performance, which was taped in Music City on August 24 to later air on FOX, found Fairchild taking on lead vocals as bandmates Westbrook and Sweet strummed their acoustic guitars. In addition, Schlapman flawlessly blended her vocals with Fairchild’s throughout the performance before the quartet joined forces and beautifully harmonized on the track’s chorus.
As the tribute came to a close, Fairchild congratulated Lambert as the camera panned to show the “If I Was A Cowboy” singer wiping away tears from her eyes. “Congratulations Miranda,” Fairchild said, “We love you so much.”
The audience then offered a roaring applause as tears streamed down Lambert’s face.
Prior to their performance, Fairchild told PEOPLE about their song choice for the heartfelt tribute.
“We could have picked a million things,” Fairchild told the outlet, “but that song won ACM song of the decade. We’ve heard her sing it on the road a bunch, but as we got ready for this, we listened back to the recording, and it’s not just the magic of the way the song was written — which literally is magic — but her delivery and storytelling that’s so beautiful and direct.”
During the show, Brooks & Dunn also honored Lambert with a fiery performance of her 2005 hit, “Kerosene,” which was certainly a highlight of the evening.
Lambert received the coveted Triple Crown Award during the awards show, a prestigious honor that is awarded to an artist after they receive ACM awards for New Artist Of The Year, Female or Male Artist Of The Year, and Entertainer Of The Year.
As the most celebrated artist in Academy Of Country Music Awards history with 37 wins, Lambert is one of only seven artists who have been awarded the Triple Crown Award. Lambert now joins the ranks of Brooks & Dunn, Barbara Mandrell, Kenny Chesney, Mickey Gilley and Merle Haggard (who each received the award in 2005), Carrie Underwood (2009) and Jason Aldean (2015).
Keith Urban and The Chicks have also qualified for the Triple Crown Award, but have yet to receive the honor.
Hosted by reigning ACM Female Artist of the Year, Carly Pearce, the 15th Annual ACM Honors took place on Wednesday, August 24 at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dubbed “Country Music industry’s favorite night,” ACM Honors recognized several special honorees, including ACM Triple Crown Award recipient Miranda Lambert, ACM Spirit Award recipient Chris Stapleton, ACM Poet’s Award recipient Shania Twain, ACM Milestone Award recipient Morgan Wallen and ACM Film Award recipient Yellowstone.
Performers and presenters included Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, The Warren Brothers, Brooks & Dunn, Dan + Shay, Eric Church, Jordan Davis, ERNEST, Jesse Frasure, Vince Gill, Ashley Gorley, Mickey Guyton, HARDY, Wynonna Judd, Avril Lavigne, Carly Pearce, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and more.
ACM Award winner and Grammy nominee Trace Adkins was also on hand to perform his cover of “A Country Boy Can Survive,” from the brand-new FOX country music drama MONARCH, in which he stars alongside Susan Sarandon and Anna Friel.
ACM Honors premiered on Tuesday, September 13 at 8/7c on FOX. The show will be available to stream the following day on Hulu.
