Blake Shelton Celebrates 20 Years Of Debut Single ‘Austin’ And Performs ‘Minimum Wage’ At 2021 ACM Awards

Blake Shelton performed two songs at the 2021 ACM Awards on Sunday, April 18.

The country music superstar celebrated 20 years of his debut single with a performance of “Austin.” In addition to celebrating his debut single, The Voice coach performed his current single “Minimum Wage,” live from the Grand Ole Opry.

“We’re doing our performance at the Grand Ole Opry House and I’m excited because you know the ACM’s came to us, RAC Clark came and and he knows it’s the 20th anniversary of “Austin” which is shocking you know to  wrap my head around that,” Shelton explained ahead of his performance. “It’s unbelievable that I’m still able to do this you know. So we’re going to perform “Austin” and honor the fact that it’s the 20th anniversary and then we’re throwing in a little bit of “Minimum Wage” which is the current single that we have out right now. It’s gonna be exciting for me just ’cause there’s a lot of things that happened between that song and this song, it’s pretty crazy.”

Now THAT is how you do #CountryMusic 🙌 @blakeshelton brought back his 20-year-old classic “Austin” plus his current hit, “Minimum Wage,” for an unforgettable #ACMawards performance! ❤️ Don’t miss another minute of tonight’s show－turn on @CBS or @paramountplus now! pic.twitter.com/SpJ5OpoI6o

— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) April 19, 2021

Shelton was up for Music Event Of The Year at the awards show alongside his soon-to-be wife Gwen Stefani for their “Nobody But You” duet. However, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice took home the award for their collaborative track, “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”

The 56th ACM Awards also featured performances from Brothers Osborne, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Mickey Guyton, Alan Jackson, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, Ashley McBryde, Keith Urban, Gabby Barrett, Jimmie Allen, Little Big Town and more.

Additionally, the show included star-studded collaborations by Dierks Bentley feat. The War And Treaty, Miranda Lambert with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd, Chris Young feat. Kane Brown, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice, as well as Carrie Underwood & CeCe Winans. The show opener featured the live debut of Elle King and Miranda Lambert’s duet, “Drunk (And I Don’t Want To Go Home).”

Co-hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, the 2021 ACM Awards took place in Music City for the second consecutive year. The three-hour awards show took place at three iconic Nashville venues, including Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. The awards show aired on Sunday, April 18 (live 8:00-11:00 PM ET) on CBS Television Network and were also streamed live on CBS All Access.