Wednesday night (June 3), more than a dozen artists gathered to perform for the televised CMT Celebrates Our Heroes: An Artists of the Year Special, honoring frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve rounded up eight of our favorites, which can be seen below.
1. Thomas Rhett, “Be a Light”
Thomas wrote “Be a Light” long before coronavirus forced everyone inside, and artists off the road. Still, he admits the song has never been more timely than it is now.
“I’ve been wanting to release ‘Be A Light’ since the day that I wrote it, and when all this stuff happened – I mean from the tornadoes in Nashville now to the COVID-19 / coronavirus – I feel like now there is no better time to release a song like ‘Be A Light,’” Thomas acknowledged. “I just feel like the world was in darkness for a minute, and so I think a song like this can be really encouraging for people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-972nAyy_I
2. Lady Antebellum, “Champagne Night”
Lady Antebellum switched their former single, “What I’m Leaving For,” to “Champagne Night” –– the winner of Songland –– in light of the current situation in the world.
“What I love so much about ‘Champagne Night’ is just how the song makes me feel,” Hillary Scott explained. “It’s just so happy and fun and makes me just want to have a great time with people I love. And I love the story of this song I love that Madeline Merlo got this big, huge chance to come on Songland and work with Shane McAnally, and that now we’re all celebrating the fact that this song got such a great response by the fans that it had to be the single.”
https://www.facebook.com/CMTartistsoftheyear/videos/vb.299982733350481/293059395185287/?type=2&theater
3. Kelsea Ballerini, “You’ve Got a Friend”
Kelsea chose a cover of the Carole King classic, which could sum up how she’s feeling right now. The 26-year-old admitted being home right now, especially when she planned on being on a big tour to support her latest Kelsea album, has been painful.
“There was a tour, the biggest of my career with my dream lineup, planned for fall,” Kelsea recently revealed in a Twitter Q&A (via CMT). “Unfortunately, it couldn’t happen and luckily we didn’t announce before the pandemic. But the second it’s safe, I’ll be back.”
https://www.facebook.com/CMTartistsoftheyear/videos/vb.299982733350481/571338880251927/?type=2&theater
4. Tim McGraw, “I Called Mama”
Tim has been vocal about his current single, and why it means so much to him, especially now.
“I was recording this song earlier in the year, before all of this happened,” Tim shared on the Today Show. “It was a great song. It’s a song I love. I love my mom, like everybody loves their mom, and I really wanted to record it. After I recorded it and we got it mixed, then the virus came along, and everybody was talking about it, and everybody went into isolation. It really took on a bigger meaning and a deeper meaning to us. That’s why we released it.”
https://www.facebook.com/CMTartistsoftheyear/videos/280927293294365/?__xts__[0]=68.ARAL21MLzkWNXP2K27dJ2AViUvG87PmtuC1x2k__eCCmwNcZVnykD_c9XlXBIRT01Wmi6A1vr4Gs_PoPZbVH4Sss9f7hnAyJoQ0HXn7fYqU6T3wHvA_mHYKNxF0UqDbaBlqRzEnuti2dMFnmQii2vucA6pguzolpNdU69TAIVmu9maviBQXCKylnvdFQVCpMjkOZKlqQYk2rGU4lFvzov9XOOC5BCSKkHfakcX1NJ80Vkc1Go1Z4KTuskQ8upqyOq6YsiJ4bptgeOe9R-Hk68Kme1yB_djIoi4IPpGXiR-xddyp4iXzKskQY3gNHAiOSmPN-uW-C0Gr3dpTub2RIin7GtBSiRgz6uk33sA&__tn__=-R
5. Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird”
“Bluebird” is from Miranda’s latest Wildcard album. The singer wrote the tune with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby, which is an especially timely song right now.
“When we got in the room to write it, it felt really magical, because, I don’t know — something about a bluebird is hopeful, even through blue times,” Miranda said at an industry event last year. “When I sing this song, I feel a little flutter. I feel every single word of what it means.”
https://www.facebook.com/CMTartistsoftheyear/videos/563752031231412/?__xts__[0]=68.ARBteYEbXem7g4Na50G1WgZeIEZW2JCXxEb66s0U8zLFCRV4o5YWl8SdLhkbVwYVSjLx-eaxmiq0JXCG-EgivbuvW6zTEqJMkxYmxHC1lbjL4jK7GFxg3paoH6AmCKPh3MpYrvzqP-94UAr5OoBYo0azhPVZOomG2TO1OI95a2Deubi-l_lGsORROBq0hTzlAjYzNXYjJzlPIkEuQVwTL1V0ux3jvwHllrCb5Kdorw0M1EYXiTW2B5K897_ohc8E9ZF9wFPP5dbnW5VXhPBecXKzjb_dewlFE2ObNb0KPLuSfCf8yUET0gou6aCriagHLk3u5wH7ZQ6SBF6F0K9ZwmrOI-cqNVj7odcdrQ&__tn__=-R
6. Darius Rucker, “Forever and Ever, Amen”
Darius chose the Randy Travis classic, “Forever and Ever, Amen,” to perform. The song brings some levity to an otherwise challenging time for the Grand Ole Opry member, who spoke out earlier this week about the struggles after the senseless death of George Floyd, and what it’s like to be judged because of the color of your skin.
“Over the course of my life, I guess I had just put it down to ‘that’s just the way it is,’” Darius said, as part of a lengthy post on social media. “No, I know I had. It is no longer alright for me to perpetuate the myth that things are okay. I have kids whom I love and cherish, and to watch them go through this, to feel their anguish and anger trying to deal with this is heartbreaking for me. The question that keeps coming up is, ‘will it ever change?’ And my answer now has to be ‘YES.’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsEcJMGK36E
7. Brandi Carlile, “Most of All”
Brandi’s voice with this song might be the salve we all need right now. From her 2018 By the Way, I Forgive You, the song was inspired by watching both of her grandmothers pass away, but is needed now more than ever.
“I watched both my parents lose their mothers last year,” Brandi told NPR. “It was really interesting, because throughout the process of growing up, I listened to all of their grievances and gripes about their mamas, the things that kept them from answering the phone sometimes and all that stuff. And then as soon as those women were gone, it was like all memory of any of that immediately just evaporated, and it was all funny stories and good things.”
https://www.facebook.com/CMTartistsoftheyear/videos/345951079702416/?__xts__[0]=68.ARA_NjTQfqv6fm6E6uMAKWWuJCNbJcuaBl1p6gTdjjegvxhYT_p5lSPzYwHDVj-Dj5YvXk-oWH1r0KyQAtcmN6AfqMpiHFqkFrFxWUBLjb3w593YafhyFdiHIaxa6VqwJGfk0R4I_tqq7bck5ZkTR1VNWf9uVBdMEjBocVOFX8agt6olu0MyCUE8eSyfz_BRpy0ckkzmJlOYZpvJaa3OJbs12HusqMopJ8vU-6h7I9HCREln5Pehtdgkf2dapJW_WDal1c9qGEDkULJScH74o0BwsLk6Jr1uO-mc1GxcDzPyl_H8KJBHNnySDS8u5eqnEbzvfXNExr_6PYtGupoRQ4j8i9yRBKDJh9OuGg&__tn__=-R
8. Little Big Town, “Bluebird”
Little Big Town’s “Bluebird” is from their latest Nightfall album. The quartet kicked off CMT Celebrates Our Heroes with this performance, dedicating it to those who are working under such dire circumstances.
“It’s an honor to be apart of this show tonight for CMT for all the frontlines heroes or workers for our communities and our neighborhoods that have stuck together and that are cheering each other on, we’re gonna sing this song as a dedication for you tonight,” Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild said. “We sure hope it brings you peace and joy and we can’t wait to be together with you soon.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y63TClGCad0
Celebrities including Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Zac Brown, Lauren Daigle, Reba McEntire, Jake Owen, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Bobby Bones, Cody Alan, Kristin Bell, Scarlet Johannson, Olivia Munn, Sean Penn, and Gary Sinise and more, also appeared to thank those working on the frontlines during COVID-19, including grocery store workers, teachers, delivery drivers and more.
Proceeds from CMT Celebrates Our Heroes went to several organizations helping in the middle of the global pandemic, including First Responders First, Save the Children, American Red Cross and more. Find a complete list here.