Hardy Delivers Unforgettable CMA Fest Performance With Surprise Guests

Author Lauren Hoffman

June 10th 5:25 PM

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 09: HARDY performs onstage during the 2024 CMA Music festival at the Nissan Stadium on June 09, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

There’s no greater feeling than walking through the gates of Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest surrounded by fellow country fans from all over the world. It’s even better when country-rocker Hardy is scheduled to close out the entire festival.

RELATED: Hardy: His ‘Mount Rushmore’ Of Country And Rock Music

From the minute I entered the stadium, I could feel the energy was different for night four. It was something special. Hardy kicked off his eight-track set with his No. 1 hit, “Rockstar,” followed by “Jack.”

Hardy then performed two new tracks, “Psycho” and “Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song),” which will be featured on his upcoming highly anticipated new album, Quit!!, due out on July 12. Then it came time for the ultimate country surprise.

The Nashville hitmaker brought out Big & Rich to celebrate 20 years of their smash hit, “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy),” one of the greatest country songs of all time. The surprise collaboration had the entire stadium up on their feet dancing and singing along to every word.

@backstagecountry
@HARDY surprises #Nashville crowd with @Big & Rich to celebrate 20 years of “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)” at CMAfest! [📹: Daniel / @touchtheflame] #countrymusic #Hardy
♬ original sound - Backstage Country

The surprise guests didn’t stop there during Hardy’s CMA Fest set as he also brought out his friend and fellow country singer Lauren Alaina. Together they delivered a live performance of their infectious No. 1 hit, “One Beer,” which is featured on Hardy’s Hixtape, Vol. 1 released in 2019.

“Wall to wall and we still ain’t sold out. Thank you @hardy for having me out last night to help you close out @cma fest! Until next year y’all,” Alaina posted on Instagram.

CMA Fest 2024 - Day 4 — NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – JUNE 09: Lauren Alaina and HARDY performs onstage during the 2024 CMA Music festival at the Nissan Stadium on June 09, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Last but certainly not least, Carly Pearce returned to the stage after her set to take the part of Lainey Wilson during Hardy’s performance of “Wait In The Truck.” The singer-songwriter, who released her fourth studio album, hummingbird, on Friday, did the song absolute justice.

While we could have kept going all night with Hardy, all good things must come to an end, and that includes CMA Fest 2024. Hard closed out the festival by performing a lively performance (in total rockstar fashion), of “Truck Bed.”

Click here to see more CMA Fest coverage from Backstage Country.

6 Of The Best Country Music Videos of All Time

The best country music videos of all time are the cream of the crop, going back to the 1990s. We take a look at the six best videos from Reba to Carrie to HARDY and more.

2024 CMT Music Awards

The CMT Music Awards will honor the best music videos in country music in the last year on Sunday (4/7) on their yearly show airing live on CBS. We thought that would be the perfect time to focus on what we believe are the best country music videos of all time.

The 2024 CMT Music Awards is hosted once again by Kelsea Ballerini. Previously, Kelsea was at the helm of the 2021 and 2023 CMT Music Awards alongside Kane Brown. She hosted remotely for the 2022 show.

Host Kelsea Ballerini

Ballerini said, “I couldn’t be more excited to be back for my 4th year with my CMT family to host this year’s CMT Music Awards in Austin, Texas.”

She added, “Hosting an awards show that celebrates the music that the fans love most has been an honor, and I know this year will be another unforgettable night.”

Kelsea posing for the cameras at the 2023 CMT Music Awards red carpet.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

2024 CMT Music Award’s Final Six

The final six CMT Music Videos of the Year vying for the top honor at Sunday night (4/7) show are:

Ashley McBryde – “Light On In the Kitchen”
Cody Johnson – “The Painter”
HARDY – “Truck Bed”
Jelly Roll – “Need A Favor”
Kelsea Ballerini – “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)”
Lainey Wilson – “Watermelon Moonshine”

The fan-voted CMT Music Awards will air live from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center on CBS on Sunday, April 7th (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT).

Garth Brooks

Before we share what we believe are the six best country videos of all time, I must mention Garth Brooks. He had some of the best music videos of any country star and was an innovator. However, you can’t find his great music videos, like “The Dance,” which won a CMA Music Video of the Year award in 1990, and “The Thunder Rolls,” which won the same honor from the CMA in 1991, anywhere online.

So, I haven’t seen the videos in years and can’t re-watch them, so Garth did not make this list. If he made them available on YouTube like every other country star, he would have made my list for sure.

Garth winning one of his many CMA Awards in 2016.
Michael Loccisano/etty Images

Best Music Videos In Country Music

That being said, here are what I believe are the six best music videos in country music of all time.

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Carrie Underwood –"Before He Cheats" (2006)
This is the song Carrie closed her shows with and is the song she is most recognized for. The music video of the song tells the story of revenge so well as Carrie’s character sashes tires and beats her former cheating boyfriend’s truck with a baseball bat (a Louisville slugger).

The video was filmed in downtown Nashville Printer’s Alley, a once popular spot in Nashville that now has bars and clubs where up-and-coming country singers can play their songs with hopes of being discovered.

Underwood passionately sings the song in the video, walking through the streets as people around her look and windows shatter. She carries the bat through much of this classic video.

“Before He Cheats” won Video of the Year at the ACMs in 2006. It won the CMT Music Award for Video of the Year in 2007.
The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) "Goodbye Earl" - (2000)
The Chicks made their exit from country music after some political controversy, but before that happened, they made this video, an absolute gem.

The video features Hollywood actresses Jane Krakowski and Lauren Holly as Wanda and Mary Ann, lifelong friends who got together and killed Wanda’s abuser. NYPD Blue actor Dennis Franz played the abuser and murder victim. The Chicks met the actor while appearing on The Rosie O’Donnell Show and asked him to be in a future video.

Say what you want about The Chicks; this video is epic and for sure one of the best country music videos of all time. The video came out before the CMT Music Awards began in 2002, or I believe it would have won the top honor for sure.

The video won a CMA Award in 2000 for Music Video of the Year. It was the same year the Dixie Chicks won the coveted Entertainer of the Year from the CMA.
Dierks Bentley - "Drunk On A Plane" (2015)
Dierks’s sense of humor shines in this fun video that features Bentley playing himself in the plane, signing autographs for some ladies at one point and playing guitar and singing as the song’s character gets drunk on a plane taking a honeymoon trip alone as his wife to be dumped him.

Dierks also plays the plane’s pilot (he is an actual pilot who flies himself to his own concert dates all over the country). As the pilot, he dons a pilot hat, jacket, and sunglasses.

During that time, I attended the number one party in Nashville for “Drunk On A Plane,” where everyone was given a pilot hat and sunglasses like in the video.

Bentley is a fun guy, and this music video was as entertaining as any in-country music. I believe it is one of the best country music videos of all time.
Shania Twain - "Man, I Feel Like A Woman!" (1997)
This music video is like no other in country music and this is the song that made Shania a household name. The video has been viewed more than 400 million times on YouTube.

Twain’s style and dressing in drag, then shedding her coat and tie to dance around and sing the women’s anthem to perfection, is what makes Shaina stand out even today. The song and video are just as popular today as they were when they first came out over 25 years ago!

Having eye candy men dressed in tight, shiny black pants and see-through shirts dancing and playing guitar behind her in the video set the stage for one of country music’s most recognized and best music videos ever.

Two years after releasing this song and music video in 1999, Twain was crowned the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year.
HARDY with Lainey Wilson - "Wait In The Truck" (2022)
This music video is like a movie telling the story of a character killing an abuser of his friend. Lainey’s performance as the abused woman “waiting in the truck” is worthy of an Emmy for sure. Wilson is also in scenes where her character testifies in court and visits HARDY in prison.

The video won Music Video Of The Year and Musical Event of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards in Nashville. It also won an ACM Award in 2022 for Visual Media (Video) of the Year.

It was nominated for CMT Music Video of the Year but lost out to Kane and Katelyn Brown’s “Thank God” video.
Reba McEntire - "Fancy' (1992)
This is one of the best story videos of all time in any genre of music, in my opinion. Reba is near perfect in the role of Fancy, a now famous star who grew up pleasing men at the instruction of her mother to survive.

The video starts with Fancy Rae Baker coming home to the “Outskirts of New Orleans” to the shack she grew up in. A cab driver is starstruck as he drives Fancy, wearing a fur coat, hat, and sunglasses, looking like a movie star, to her old home.

The song starts, and Fancy flashes back to tell her tale as Reba sings the song in the old shack.

Surprisingly, the music video did not win any awards. Reba did win the Video of the Year award from the ACM for her 1991 video “Is Their Life Out There?” and in 1986 for her “Whoever’s In New England” music video.