Trisha Yearwood will receive a special honor at the upcoming CMT Music Awards. The 59-year-old will receive the inaugural June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award, honoring her numerous philanthropic efforts, including her ongoing work with Habitat for Humanity.
“We are thrilled to honor the incomparable Trisha Yearwood with the inaugural June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award at this year’s show,” the executive producers for the CMT Music Awards say in a joint statement. “Trisha has a unique ability to rally a community, whether that may be families in need with Habitat for Humanity, or uplifting her fellow artists and entertainers trying to carve a path in the industry.
“She embodies the bold strength of June, who tirelessly devoted herself to service and community, and the namesake for this award,” they continue. “Both multi-hyphenate trailblazers eloquently crafted a script for others to model, letting their hearts and authenticity guide their personal, professional and public lives.”
Not only will Yearwood be honored during the live broadcast, but she also will make her worldwide debut of “Put It In A Song,” which she wrote. Yearwood recently hinted she had new music coming, including songs she wrote, an unexpected addendum to an already massively successful career.
“I didn’t start doing this to release anything,” Yearwood told Everything Nash. “I just kind of had a big epiphany. I’ve written some over the years, but very little, and I was very self-conscious. I kind of had a big aha moment. And I just started writing. I did it for me. I wasn’t doing this to show anybody.”
She may not have decided to share any of her music, if not for the encouragement of her husband, Garth Brooks.
“I come home and play a song for Garth, and he would cry, and he was like, ‘This is a good song. You need to keep dong this,’” Yearwood recalled. “So I just have been doing a lot of writing. I’m getting quite a collection, and I’m thinking that I might put them out.”
Yearwood just celebrated her 25th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
“It just goes so fast,” Yearwood said of the milestone anniversary. “When I think about somebody else being in the Opry for 25 years, that seems like such a huge thing to me. When I think about myself, I’m like, ‘How did this go so fast?’ I’ve said this many times: this, more than any other award, or any other honor, this is a family. The criteria is not easy to define. It really is just the powers that be have to decide that you don’t necesarily sing the exact same brand of country that the people who came before you did, but you have to understand what came before, and have a love and appreciation for what came before.”
Yearwood joins an impressive list of performers for the CMT Music Awards, including Keith Urban, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Bailey Zimmerman and Sam Hunt, with more artists expected to be announced. Kelsea Ballerini will also perform, and serve as host of the CMT Music Awards.
The CMT Music Awards will air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.