The CMT Music Awards, dubbed “Nashville’s biggest party,” are known for embracing collaborations of different genres. So when this year’s ceremony kicked off on Wednesday evening, it was already a given that one unlikely musical pairing would take home the crown for CMT Performance of the Year.
That award went out to country superstar Luke Combs and soul singer Leon Bridges for their CMT Crossroads collaboration of Combs’ No. 1 hit “Beautiful Crazy” from the deluxe version of his 2017 debut album, This One’s For You.
The Performance of the Year award usually crowns past musical performances featured on the CMT network. Along with Combs and Bridges, other nominees included Boyz II Men and Brett Young, Maren Morris and Brandi Carlile, Brett Eldredge and Meghan Trainor, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman and Gladys Knight and Zac Brown Band and Shawn Mendes.
“My beautiful fiancée Nicole [Hocking], thank you for inspiring this song,” Combs, who collected the trophy from presenters Bobby Bones and JWoww, said before thanking co-writers, Wyatt Durrette and Robert Williford.
“Thank you so much CMT, thank you Crossroads for bringing this dope pack together,” Bridges added.
Speaking of musical pairings, this year’s lineup of performances was the largest ever in the history of the CMT Awards. The star-studded jamboree included unlikely duets by Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker, Boys II Men and Brett Young and more. Aside from winning the CMT Performance of the Year hardware, Combs was also nominated for CMT Video of the Year for his smash, “She Got the Best of Me.”
