As she has in the past 12 years of CMA Awards, Carrie Underwood is slated to serve as the mistress of ceremonies, but this time she’ll be without her longtime co-host Brad Paisley. Instead, Underwood will be on host duty along with country music legends Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.
Underwood told ABC News fans could expect a thrilling night of entertainment with Parton and McEntire by her side from the very start of the show. “It’s gonna be a big opening number kicked off by myself and Dolly and Reba,” she said on Wednesday.
“Just kind of going back and forth [between] some of the favorite songs from women throughout our history, either the artists singing them or being represented by newer artists, just kind of having this moment,” Underwood continued. “Hopefully everybody will just be like, ‘Yes, that was amazing!’ and set the tone for the rest of the night.”
Others expected to belt out renowned country songs throughout the night include Tanya Tucker, Crystal Gayle, Terri Clark, Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson, Jennifer Nettles, Sara Evans, Maren Morris and the Highwomen ensemble Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires. Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton are also expected to bring their nominated hit “Dive Bar” to the stage in addition to performances from Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osburne and Chris Stapleton.
Artists like Kelsea Ballerini, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Cody Johnson, Morgan Wallen, Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde and dozens of others aren’t just expected to flood the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, where the ceremony will be held on Wednesday, but they’ll be handing out awards and taking them home, too.
Folks at home can tune into the show live on ABC starting at 8 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, coverage of the red carpet live show is slated to begin at 6 p.m. ET on the network. Viewers can tune into both events via live stream on the official CMA Awards website as well as ABC’s website and app. However, a cable provider login is needed to access the streams.