Eric Church made good on his promise that he had some surprises in store for his “special solo performances” in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening when he surprised the sold-out crowd with special guest Morgan Wallen.
During Church’s sold-out Gather Again Tour stop in Philadelphia on Saturday (Oct. 9) at the Wells Fargo Center, the country superstar was joined by Wallen to perform several songs together for the capacity crowd.
After welcoming special guest Cam, who also joined him in Pittsburgh on Friday (Oct. 8) evening, Church began to sing Wallen’s “Sand In My Boots” and within moments, Wallen appeared. The arena erupted as the East Tennessee native joined Church with an acoustic guitar, saying, “What’s going on Philadelphia?”
Following a performance of “Sand In My Boots,” “Whiskey Glasses,” “Record Year” and “Homeboy,” the country hitmakers performed “Quittin’ Time,” a track that Church co-wrote with Luke Laird and Josh Thompson for Wallen’s chart-topping project, Dangerous: The Double Album. The performance marked the first-time they ever performed the track together for a live audience and a full circle moment.
Wallen previously told Country Now that recording a song written by his musical hero, Church, is “truly one of my favorite accomplishments so far,” as he admires his style, attitude and just the overall way he handles himself.
“Quittin’ Time” is the song that got Wallen his “initial contact” with Church, and since then the pair form quite the friendship.
“Since then I’ve been able to spend some time with him and get to know him a little bit better,” Wallen previously shared. “Which is cool for me, just because of how much he means to me musically. I feel like I don’t know if that would have happened without this song.”
In a fan-captured clip, Wallen is seen singing the opening lines of the “beautifully written” song before he passed the mic to Church to sing the next verse. The country stars then harmonized flawlessly for the chorus and throughout the remainder of the song.
“Philadelphia, it’s my Quittin’ Time,” Wallen said with a smile, before exiting the stage to a massive standing ovation from the sold-out crowd.
Watch the epic duet below.
During their performance together, Wallen praised the North Carolina native as “the best f**king country singer to ever exist in my opinion.” He later added, “I’m honored to share the stage.”
The performance comes just one day after Church revealed that he would be performing solo, without a band, at his Pennsylvania tour dates.
At the time he teased, “Get ready PA!”
Church and Wallen seemingly formed a tight-knit friendship over the course of the last year. Most recently, the superstar pair performed several songs together at the opening of The Thirty Club in Nashville, including “Springsteen,” “Sand In My Boots” and more.
The pair also spent time together fishing in late April and even shared a jam session together in late June, singing “Sand In My Boots” during a low-key hang alongside HARDY and Darius Rucker.
Church previously sang Wallen’s praises, telling Billboard, “He’s real damn good, and he’s authentic, That’s the key. Morgan is not trying to be somebody else. He’s just doing him. It’s refreshing to see and hear.”
The performance comes just days after Church launched his massive, 55-date The Gather Again Tour, which boasts of a 3-hour, 36-song performance in-the-round.
Meanwhile, Wallen is gearing up to return to the stage for a 4-show trek this fall, including two shows in Alabama, one in Tennessee and one in Georgia.
