Country superstar Keith Urban opened up the annual CMT Awards on Monday night (April 11) with a blast, bringing fans to their feet.
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The songwriter and performer dedicated his opening performance at the 2022 awards show to his fellow “Wild Hearts” by playing his top-10 song of the same name to commence the show.
CBS, which is broadcasting the show (for the first time ever), took to social media to write on Twitter to its 1.2 million followers: “.@KeithUrban is bringing everyone together on the #CMTAwards stage as he kicks off the show! Where are our WILD HEARTS at?”
The Australian singer set the stage for the big night, performing as lights flashed and hands clapped. Urban released “Wild Hearts” in August and it’s the lead single from his upcoming 12th album, which as of now doesn’t have a name or release date.
For this year’s show, the host Kelsea Ballerini is doing the honors digitally after contracting COVID-19 at the 11th hour. She had to pull out of hosting it in person. But her fellow host, actor Anthony Mackie, was joined by a “backup KB”: country star Kane Brown. Brown has hosted the show twice already in the past.
Brown is also the most nominated artist of the night with four noms, including video of the year for his hit song, “One Mississippi.”
Urban, who is not nominated tonight, is a 15-time CMT Award-winner.
Check back with American Songwriter for more coverage of the fun awards night.
What was your favorite performance of the night? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CMT
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