Carrie! Keith! Luke! And Luke! CMA Fest Roars Back from Cancellations with Star-Packed Stadium Concerts

Mar. 15, 2025

Keith Urban.Photo: Nancy Kruh

Concert touring has been going strong for over a year now, but every act on country music’s biggest live stage — the stadium concerts at Nashville’s four-day CMA Fest — seemed to have saved some pent-up energy to unleash from the months of the pandemic shutdown.

AsLuke Combsannounced to the packed house at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night: “Damn, it’s good to be back at CMA Fest. It’s two years too many!”

Thomas Rhett.Nancy Kruh

Luke Bryan.Nancy Kruh

KEEPING IT CLASSIC:Is it truly CMA Fest without the biggest stars trotting out their biggest blockbusters? This year, after the three-year break, the classics went down like country comfort food, and there was much to savor:Darius Rucker’s"Wagon Wheel,“Carrie Underwood’s"Before He Cheats,“Dierks Bentley’s"Drunk on a Plane,“Luke Bryan’s"Country Girl (Shake It For Me),“Thomas Rhett’s"Die a Happy Man,“Zac Brown Band’s"Chicken Fried,” andKeith Urban’s"Wasted Time.”

Lady A and BRELAND.Nancy Kruh

Luke Combs also turned in a particularly touching “Beautiful Crazy,” telling the crowd that the song’s inspiration,his wife, Nicole,was stage-side. She’s due to give birth to their first child, a boy, this week, and Combs' Saturday night appearance is his last before he becomes a father.

Luke Combs.Nancy Kruh

WHAT’S NEXT:Several artists were also looking ahead, choosing to introduce brand-new music from the big stage. Combs teased his much-anticipated third album,Growin' Up(due out June 24), with his first soulful performance of “The Kind of Love We Make,” which is set to release as a single this week. Underwood just dropped her latest album,Rhinestones & Denim, on Friday, and she included the title track and current single “Ghost Story” in her electrifying set.

Carrie Underwood.Nancy Kruh

Lady A also debuted upcoming single “Summer State of Mind,” a romp that’s ready-made for the season. Bentley and King turned in a charmingly campy performance of their catchy new duet, “Worth a Shot.” And the raucous reaction toCole Swindell’s"She Had Me at Heads Carolina” showed why he’s earned the early buzz around that infectious new single. (He and ACM female artist of the yearLainey Wilsonwere also warmly rewarded for their performance of No. 1 duet, “Never Say Never.")

Lainey Wilson and Cole Swindell.Nancy Kruh

STAYING POWER:If the lineup for the four nights of concerts is any indication, the juggernaut of names at the top of country’s heap hasn’t made room for many new entries since the last CMA Fest in 2019.

Pearce offered up new single, “What He Didn’t Do,” and she also provided one of the festival’s most memorable moments when she brought out idolWynonna Judd— just weeks after losing hermom and duet partner, Naomi Judd— for a bravura duet of The Judds' 1984 hit “Why Not Me.” The two traded soaring vocals before Judd finally asserted her singular pipes, and Pearce gave her proper due with an awestruck backbend.

Carly Pearce and Wynonna Judd.Nancy Kruh

Dickerson’s larger-than-life performance showed that he’s built for stadium settings, and besides turning in an emotional performance of his latest No. 1, “Love You Like I Used To,” he shared the stage with newbieJake Scottfor their just-released duet, “She Likes It.”

MORE BUZZ-WORTHY MOMENTS:Picking favorite performances out of this lineup is an impossible task, but there were some destined to linger in memories. Carrie Underwood effortlessly segued from “Jesus, Take the Wheel” to the gospel hymn “How Great Thou Art,” which seemed to have been written for her divine set of vocal cords.Kelsea Ballerinifound new poignance in “Homecoming Queen,” which evoked a sea of phone flashlights.

Kelsea Ballerini.Nancy Kruh

ThoughBrothers Osbornehave recently been MIA on radio, the four-time CMA vocal duo of the year showed once again why they’re among the most thrilling live country performers — and this time they brought along two mammoth skeleton puppets to dance along as they drew selections from their latest album,Skeletons.

John and TJ Osborne of Brothers Osborne.Nancy Kruh

ANOTHER SPOTLIGHT:Show planners didn’t waste the downtime needed to reset the main stage between the star turns, employing a satellite stage at the back of the stadium to showcase a variety of strong acts in acoustic performances. Some were no doubt familiar to concert-goers:Maddie & Tae,Dylan Scott,Priscilla BlockandMitchell Tenpennyeach delivered two-song sets.

But there also was a refreshing selection of newer talent, includingLily Rose,who’s already made a splash with “Villian”;Madeline Edwards,a country soul artist who shared the CMA Awards Show stage last November withMickey GuytonandBrittney Spencer;husband-and-wifeKat + Alex,who brought along their Latin twist (and a few Spanish lyrics) to their set; andFrank Ray,another Latino country artist whose current single, “Country’d Look Good on You,” is in radio’s top 30 and climbing.

MORE AWESOME TWOSOMES:The stadium stage is known for springing surprise duets on the audience, and besides Wynonna Judd and BRELAND, several more crowd-pleasers showed up.Ashley McBrydeemerged to share vocals with Elle King on King’s 2015 pop-rock hit, “Ex’s & Oh’s.” Celebrating the 30th anniversary of “Achy Breaky Heart,“Billy Ray Cyrusteamed with Bentley on that lovable earworm during Bentley’s set.

Dierks Bentley and Billy Ray Cyrus.Nancy Kruh

There also was one surprise no-show:Jason Aldeanwas left to sing recent No. 1 duet, “If I Didn’t Have You,” with a large-screen video of Underwood on Thursday night. She saved her pipes for her own full set two nights later.

source: people.com