Cody Johnson CMA Fest: ‘They Are Here To Hear Country Music’
The Country Music Association has revealed performances featured in its CMA Fest primetime television special, airing Wednesday, July 19 at 8/7c on ABC and available the next day on Hulu.
Cody Johnson has two performances featured in the upcoming special, one with Reba McEntire, who surprised fans at CMA Fest in June by joining Cody on stage to sing her 1980s hit “Whoever’s In New England.”
Before he made his first CMA Fest main stage performance last month, Johnson talked to us backstage and shared how excited he was to play CMA Fest in such a big way. He told us, “From working hard and personally, a long hard road of playing bars and honky tonks to get to the top where I get to step on the largest stage in America with country music fans. These people aren’t here to party for three days in a field; they are here to hear country music.”
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Cody added, “To be on this lineup, especially for the 50th anniversary for me personally, I look back on all the years of work hard and never giving up, and I said, ‘Someday I’m gonna be able to play my brand of country music that sounds more traditional, has got a little cowboy in it, on a very large stage. So, it’s an incredible thing. We’re gonna try to burn this place down.”
Hosted by Dierks Bentley, Elle King, and Lainey Wilson, the three-hour concert event features collaborations and unforgettable performances that took place during the 50th anniversary of CMA Fest just last month in Nashville. Featured “CMA Fest” performers include Alabama, Jason Aldean, Leon Bridges, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Vince Gill, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, Avril Lavigne.
The show will also feature performances from Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Darius Rucker, Tanya Tucker, Keith Urban, and Wilson.
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