Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood performs onstage at the 51st annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 8, 2017 in Nashville. Rick Diamond/Getty Images

The 2017 CMA Awards came and went Wednesday night in Nashville, celebrating the best in the world of country music. The show featured some terrific musical performances, in addition to handing out awards to the genre’s biggest stars.

Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift were among the night’s big winners, while Little Big Town, Keith Urban and Chris Stapleton also took home awards. Carrie Underwood and Brady Paisely hosted the show for a 10th straight year.

Let’s take a look at the five most memorable performances from the 51st annual CMA Awards.

Carrie Underwood

Underwood did more than just host the CMA Awards. She had maybe the night’s most powerful performance, singing “Softly and Tenderly” as a tribute to the victims of last month’s mass shooting in Las Vegas. Underwood became noticeably choked up when photos of those who lost their lives were shown on the screen.

Miranda Lambert

Lambert nailed her performance of “To Learn Her,” showing why she took home the award for female vocalist of the year. She beat out the likes of Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini. Lambert led all singers with five nominations.

Eddie Montgomery

Montgomery performed live for the first time since his bandmate, Troy Gentry, died in a helicopter crash in September. The first half of Montgomery Gentry joined Rascal Flatts and Dierks Bentley to sing “My Town” in perhaps the night’s most emotional moment. Gentry's wife and daughter were both in the crowd for the performance.

Eric Church

Church might have left the CMA Awards empty-handed, but he opened the show opened with one of the night’s most memorable moments. He sang an acapella version of “Amazing Grace” and was soon joined by a myriad of stars that performed “Hold My Hand.”

Keith Urban

Urban closed out the show by performing his new song, “Female.” The song was written just last month in response to the sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Urban's song “Blue Ain't Your Color” won him the award for best single of the year.

​

RELATED STORIES