Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Tonight’s CMT Music Awards show will endeavor to emphasize what’s currently flameworthy, to borrow a word that has long since been retired from the telecast’s original name.
Prime performance slots have been given to country music figures who are still on the ascent, from still-fairly-freshly-minted superstars Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson to up-and-comers who really seem fresh out of the oven, like Megan Moroney and TikTok sensation Dasha (pictured above, in rehearsals).
To a less emphatic extent, “we also know that we have to pay homage to the artists that got us here,” says executive producer John Hamlin, which for the 2024 show means paying tribute to two icons of ’90s country. “So we’re thrilled to be honoring Trisha Yearwood this year, something that Margaret Comeaux and Leslie Fram [his fellow producer] spent a lot of time orchestrating to make happen for the show.
So having Trisha and then having Brooks and Dunn do the Toby Keith tribute makes us feel good too. We like a little bit of all of it.
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