Miranda Lambert paid tribute to her musical hero Merle Haggard during a surprise appearance at a popular Tennessee venue.
The country superstar, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, gave a surprise performance at the world-famous The Station Inn in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday (Oct. 18), according to a venue employee.
In a clip shared by Jason Brown, an employee of The Station Inn, Lambert is seen performing a cover of the late Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings” alongside a band that featured Val Storey, Larry Cordle and Carl Jackson.
“I love my job, last night Miranda Lambert turned up! (more Academy of Country Music Awards than any artist in history)…” Bronw captioned the clip shared on Tuesday (Oct. 19). “You never know who’s going to turn up at The World-Famous Station Inn on a Monday night. The band featuring Val Storey, Larry Cordle and Carl Jackson.”
Watch her performance below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVNcu2cg-XA/
“Silver Wings” is solely penned by Haggard and appears on his 1969 album, A Portrait of Merle Haggard.
Lambert was chosen as the first-ever recipient of the Merle Haggard Spirit Award at the ACM Honors in August 2016, just four months after the country music legend passed away. During the event, she credited Haggard as one of her musical heroes and the reason why she does what she does.
“Merle was one of my heroes,” Lambert previously said at the 2016 event. “He’s the reason I write songs, he changed my life so much.”
Miranda Lambert will be the very first artist to recieve the Merle Haggard Spirit Award at the ACM Honors, August 30 pic.twitter.com/HEOhdBNCzW
— Ran Fan (@randalourita) August 29, 2016
The Station Inn is an iconic Nashville venue, located in the Gulch, that was founded in 1975 by some bluegrass musicians, before Earl ‘JT’ Gray purchased it in 1981 and owned it until he died in March 2021. In addition to owning the venue, Gray presented Lambert with the GRAMMY-award for Best Country Album (Wildcard) in 2021, live from the famed venue.
“Thank you to the GRAMMYs for putting this together and letting us kind of be together and say hi,” Lambert previously shared as she accepted the coveted award. “Brandy, Ingrid and Little Big Town, Ashley back in Nashville, we are such a family in country music. I feel like holding this right now, I’m holding this for all of us, especially us girls. So, I’m very thankful for this, and I’m thankful for Jay Joyce, who has three albums in this category with Ashley, Brandy and myself. And all the songwriters and musicians that made Wildcard what it is and this tattoo that inspired it.”
During her GRAMMY’s acceptance speech, the singer continued to thank her family, husband Brendan McLoughlin, manager Marion Kraft and her band and crew.
“Thanks to my family, my husband [Brendan], my manager Marion Kraft, my band and crew,” Lambert added. “I miss the hell out of y’all, and I can’t wait to get back out with the fans. I love you so much, thank you.”
