Rising stars Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards joined forces with CMA New Artist of the Year nominee Mickey Guyton during the 55th Annual CMA Awards for a performance viewers won’t soon forget.
Faith Fennidy, who is on a mission to help end race based hair discrimination in the U.S., made an appearance to introduce the trio of performers, saying, “With your help, we can work together to ensure the next generation grows up in a respectful and open world for natural hair.”
Taking the stage together to sing “Love My Hair“ from Guyton’s recently released debut album, Remember Her Name, the trio of artists thoroughly impressed with their commanding stage presence and powerful vocals.
Ahead of the show, Edwards recalled the moment she got the call to perform from Guyton and admitted she was in disbelief.
“She’s like, ‘Um, I just wanted to see if you guys wanted to sing on the CMAs with us’ and me and Brittney were just so shell-shocked at the question that we were just quiet,” Edwards shared. “The first minute was like, ‘Oh, did she really just ask us that?’”
“That’s kind of been our conversation for two months,” Spencer added. “‘Wow, this is happening. Wow, that happened. Oh my God, this is a thing…’”
Guyton went on to applaud the Country Music Association for being inclusive.
“I think the CMAs, especially this year, have really taken a lot of care to show the different sides of country music and here we are, three black women singing a song about loving ourselves, given that opportunity, and I just…yes, that’s why the CMAs are so special,” she said.
The 55th Annual CMA Awards also featured performances from Luke Combs, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, and Zac Brown Band.
Additionally, the show included star-studded collaborations by Chris Young and Kane Brown, Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, BRELAND and HARDY.
Country singers Trace Adkins, Ingrid Andress, Kelsea Ballerini, Deana Carter, Russell Dickerson, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Lady A, Scotty McCreery, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson, and Trisha Yearwood were on hand to present during the ceremony.
Lauren Daigle, Faith Fennidy, Freddie Freeman, Amy Grant, Dulé Hill, Elle King, Zachary Levi, Hayley Orrantia, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Susan Sarandon, Saycon Sengbloh and Kurt Warner also made special appearances throughout the broadcast.
Hosted by Luke Bryan, the 2021 CMA Awards broadcasted live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 8/7c on ABC.
