Chris Young and Kane Brown Hilariously Reveal Country Artists’ Yearbook Photos with CMA Awards Performance

Chris Young and Kane Brown brought their chart-topping hit, “Famous Friends” to the CMA Awards stage on Wednesday evening, delivering…

Lauren Jo Black

| Posted on

November 10, 2021

8:51 pm

Kane Brown, Chris Young; Photo Courtesy CMA

Chris Young and Kane Brown brought their chart-topping hit, “Famous Friends” to the CMA Awards stage on Wednesday evening, delivering a fun-filled performance of the song.

The country superstars and longtime friends put a “cool twist” on their No.1 collaboration, which appears on Young’s album of the same name. The song was co-written by Young alongside Cary Barlowe and Corey Crowder.

Young and Brown delivered a memorable performance of the song in front of hilarious yearbook photos of fellow country artists such as Blake Shelton, Ashley McBryde, Eric Church, Lady A, Darius Rucker, among others.

“Blake Shelton – Most likely to make the mullet famous,” one of the yearbook photo captions read. While another said, “Eric Church – Most likely to wear sunglasses in the dark.”

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“This ‘Famous Friends’ performance is really just a microcosm of me and him being on stage together, having a good time,” Young shared ahead of their performance. “So it’s us getting on stage having a good time, and we’ve got kind of a cool twist on it obviously for the awards with the content that’s going on behind us.”

The pair were both nominated for three CMA Awards at tonight’s award ceremony, including Music Video Of The Year, Musical Event Of The Year, and Single Of The Year for “Famous Friends.”

The duet came as a “full circle” moment for Brown as he previously admitted that Young is the artist who “really helped” him find his “voice” and is ultimately who “got him into singing.”

Since the song was written, Young said there was no one else he’d rather have on the track than his own famous friend, Kane Brown.

“He was the first person that popped in my head,” Young revealed in an interview with WIN 98.5.

“I was like, ‘I want to do this, I want to add somebody else to this, and it’d be really cool if it was me and Kane,’ because I’ve guested on his stuff before, but I’ve never had him guest on something of mine.” Young continued to explain.

Young added, “the biggest thing for me, as far as why I asked Kane, is because we are friends, and it extends further than just the ‘Hey, you’re friends, because you’re both in music together.’ He really liked my music, and he had been writing with some mutual friends of ours, and they kind of put us together in the writing room. So I met him a long time ago, actually, I think before he was on Sony.”

Young continued to share that it “was really cool” to get to know Brown and to have “that basis of a friendship, especially for a moment like this, where it kind of comes full circle.”

The duet was released in late November 2020, and finds both Brown and Young trading vocals while dropping the names of some of their “famous friends” and the three counties that mean a lot to them including Rutherford County in Young’s hometown of Murfreesboro, TN, Kane’s hometown of Hamilton County (on the Tennessee and Georgia border) and Davidson County which is Nashville where both of the singers currently live.

The 55th Annual CMA Awards featured performances from Luke Combs, Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, and Zac Brown Band.

Additionally, the show included star-studded collaborations by Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, Mickey Guyton, Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards, Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, BRELAND and HARDY.

Country singers Trace Adkins, Ingrid Andress, Kelsea Ballerini, Deana Carter, Russell Dickerson, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Lady A, Scotty McCreery, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson, and Trisha Yearwood were on hand to present during the ceremony.

Lauren Daigle, Faith Fennidy, Freddie Freeman, Amy Grant, Dulé Hill, Elle King, Zachary Levi, Hayley Orrantia, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Susan Sarandon, Saycon Sengbloh and Kurt Warner also made special appearances throughout the broadcast.

Hosted by Luke Bryan, the 2021 CMA Awards broadcasted live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 8/7c on ABC.

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Lauren Jo Black

Lauren Jo Black is a longtime country music journalist, editor, host, and media personality whose work has helped shape the conversation around country music for nearly two decades. As the current Editor-in-Chief of Country Now, she has become one of the genre’s most respected voices, interviewing hundreds of country music’s biggest stars, including Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Randy Travis, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, and countless others. Over the course of her career, Black’s written work and interviews have reached billions of country music fans worldwide. A 2009 graduate of the University of Central Florida, Black began her career by founding Country Music Is Love, one of country music’s earliest independent digital publications, which she later sold to a major record label in 2015 before it was rebranded as Sounds Like Nashville. She then served as the publication’s Editor-in-Chief for more than two years. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, and she previously served as the Country Music Expert for Answers.com. Widely recognized for her expertise, Black has appeared as a featured guest on The Bobby Bones Show, BobbyCast, and Scripps News Morning Rush, providing insight on country music’s biggest moments. She has also hosted Country Now Live, a concert series featuring performances from artists including Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Riley Green, Jordan Davis, Dustin Lynch, Gabby Barrett, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, Kip Moore, Chris Young, and more. The series has welcomed thousands of fans in person while reaching millions more online. In addition, she hosted Connect With Country Now, a weekly interview series featuring conversations with rising country stars. Throughout her career, Black has earned a reputation for discovering and championing artists long before they become household names. She has covered Luke Bryan since the early days of his career, beginning when he was writing songs for other artists, including Billy Currington’s No. 1 hit “Good Directions,” before stepping into the spotlight with his debut single, “All My Friends Say” and eventually becoming one of biggest names in music. She also gave Megan Moroney her first opportunity to walk a major red carpet as Country Now’s official guest correspondent at the 2022 CMA Awards. An interview she conducted in 2018 for Forbes.com with Luke Combs that inspired his multi-week No. 1 hit, “Doin’ This.” She has also hosted stages at CMA Fest, moderated an industry panel at Country Radio Seminar, and helped lead important conversations about the evolving landscape of country music media. Beyond journalism, Black has also used her platform to support charitable causes and highlight organizations making an impact. Through Country Now Live, she has helped raise awareness and support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, while also advocating for animal rescue through Country Now’s Pupdate series, spotlighting organizations including MuttNation Foundation, Wags & Walks, and Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue. Black has been recognized as one of Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. She is a longtime member of both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). After nearly 20 years covering country music, Lauren Jo Black has spent her career telling the stories behind the artists, songs, and moments that have shaped the genre. Her first-ever book, Country Music Forever: An A-to-Z Celebration of Icons, Songs and Stories, brings that same passion and firsthand knowledge to the page, celebrating not only the legendary artists and timeless songs that have become the soundtrack to generations of fans, but also the places, traditions, and cultural moments that have made country music one of the most beloved genres around the world.