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Eric Church delivered a powerful, moving rendition of “Darkest Hour” in honor of his home state of North Carolina. Church took the stage at the 58th CMA Awards on Wednesday evening (November 20), hosted at Bridgestone Arena in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
The country star released “Darkest Hour” last month as a way to help support those impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene. The song is Church’s first solo release in more than three years. The North Carolina-born singer-songwriter debuted “Darkest Hour” early — it was initially set to appear on a project he planned for next year — with publishing royalties signed over to help people in North Carolina. He also teamed up with Luke Combs to organize an all-star benefit concert, Concert for Carolina, last month. The event raised more than $24.5 million for hurricane relief efforts. Combs reflected on the powerful benefit concert when he introduced Church to the Bridgestone Arena stage on Wednesday.
“It’s interesting how sometimes you give a song its moment, and sometimes the song finds its own moment,” Church previously said of “Darkest Hour.” “I’d written and recorded this song maybe a couple weeks ago…before this [Hurricane Helene] happened. I’d had this song, and when all this happened…there was a sense of helplessness. How can we help? And this song really spoke to me. We’ve done five or six songs, and this one really just had a message to it that I had never envisioned for this song when I wrote the song. This is not where I envisioned it. And I just felt that I was gonna regret if we waited until next year and stayed on our timeline — I mean, sometimes things happen for a reason. And so, we just started putting together a plan…”
“Just as the song says, I’ve come running. We’re on our way,” Church said. “There’s always dawn after the darkest part of the night. …Just hang in there, and we’re on the way.”
The star-studded lineup of performers at the CMA Awards also includes Chris Stapleton and Post Malone, Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan, Brooks & Dunn with Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Ella Langley with Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney, Kacey Musgraves, Bailey Zimmerman, Dierks Bentley (featuring Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes), Luke Bryan, Ashley McBryde, Shaboozey, Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims, and Lainey Wilson. Presenters include Simone Biles, Clint Black, Jeff Bridges, Mark Collie, Jordan Davis, Freddie Freeman, Don Johnson, Jackson Laux, Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch, Katharine McPhee, The Oak Ridge Boys, Taylor Frankie Paul, Carly Pearce, Caleb Pressley, Nate Smith, Daniel Sunjata, Mitchell Tenpenny and Billy Bob Thornton. The Country Music Association also revealed the all-star group of artists — Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson — paying tribute to country legend George Strait. Strait is the recipient of the 2024 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Luke Bryan returned to host the show again with Peyton Manning, and this time, they teamed up with first-time host and 2023 Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson. Check back with iHeartRadio for a live-updated list of winners throughout the evening, a gallery of the most stunning red carpet looks, coverage of can’t-miss performances and more throughout the evening. The 58th CMA Awards is airing on ABC on Wednesday evening, and will be available next day on Hulu.