CMT’s Artists of the Year 2018 kicked off with a bang Wednesday night with a sassy performance of “Sugar Daddy” from Pistol Annies. Comprised of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, the united show of girl power set the tone for the night that for the first time, celebrated only women in country music.
The show aired live on CMT from Schermerhorn Symphony Center and honorees included Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman and Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott. Loretta Lynn was named CMT Artist of a Lifetime.
“I was so excited and proud when I saw this whole show was dedicated to all of these amazing women in this room,” Lambert said while accepting her trophy. “I’m thrilled to celebrate each other tonight … and not a day will go by that I don’t honor women in this community and lift them up.”
The night was rich with unexpected vocal collaborations from the artists on songs they chose – usually not their own. Ballerini and Alison Krauss delivered a vocally stunning duet on “Ghost in this House,” which was originally recorded by Shenandoah in 1990 and later by Krauss. While Ballerini’s radio hits lean towards pop, Wednesday night her voice glistened with the classic tenets of the genre as she kept pace with Krauss. Their performance received a standing ovation from the star-packed audience.
“One of the greatest gifts that’s been given to me as a new artist is having people that I grew up listening to that I’ve watched closely and learned from turn around and share their stage with me and their platform with me,” Ballerini said. “That goes from Shania to Reba to Alison freaking Krauss, and I think what I’ve learned is how important it is to lift each other up.”
Ballerini continued: “Thank you to CMT for being the one to change a conversation into an action.”
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