CMA Fest premieres tonight on ABC at 7 p.m. CT. The three-hour primetime special is in its 15th straight year, with Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini returning as hosts for a second year.
Filmed during Nashville’s 47th annual CMA Fest, the special includes performances during the festival by 29 of music’s hottest acts, including Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Brett Eldredge, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, Dustin Lynch, Midland, Old Dominion, Jake Owen, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and Brett Young. Special guest collaborations include Lauren Alaina with Brown, Julia Michaels with Urban, Morgan Wallen with Florida Georgia Line, and Dwight Yoakam with Bentley.
Thomas Rhett returns to host “CMA Fest” for a third year, and Ballerini returns for a second year. The show is executive produced by Robert Deaton.
About the Author
Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.View Author Profile
