‘A Really Fun Time’ Is What Makes a Great Collab

On the CMA Awards on Wednesday night time (Nov. 10), four-time Male Vocalist trophy winner Chris Stapleton and first-time CMAs performer Jennifer Hudson introduced a packed home to its ft with their performance.

Joined onstage by a dozen of world-class musicians, the vocal titans delivered a stratospheric and raucous rendition of “You Are My Sunshine.”

The duet was one of many highlights of the night time, and for a lot of within the viewers, it referred to as to thoughts one other time when Stapleton was a part of an unlikely CMA Awards team-up that led to one of many largest moments of the present. That was in 2015, when the then-up-and-coming singer-songwriter joined Justin Timberlake onstage for a show-stealing performance that’s still talked about today.

Now, with one other extraordinary CMAs collaboration beneath his belt, Stapleton shrugs when requested what his secret is for creating iconic awards present moments, saying he does not sometimes notice within the second that he is making musical historical past.

“No is the reply to that — I do not notice it,” he tells Style of Nation and different retailers backstage within the present’s digital press room, “However I do notice that I am having a extremely enjoyable time, and that is what music is for me.”

When you can by no means predict what reveals are going to be those which can be going to face out essentially the most, Stapleton continues, selecting the collaborations which can be essentially the most enjoyable is normally a fairly secure wager.

“I all the time really feel like if we’re having enjoyable enjoying music, somebody’s going to have enjoyable listening to it or watching it,” he causes. “In the event you’re fascinated about one thing aside from having enjoyable and enjoying music for individuals who wanna hear it and in addition wanna have enjoyable, you then’ve missed the mark.”

Stapleton additionally picked up 4 new trophies on the 2021 CMA Awards: His Beginning Over report gained Album of the Yr, whereas the title monitor of that mission earned him wins within the Track of the Yr and Single of the Yr classes. He additionally introduced house the Male Vocalist of the Yr title.

A consummate entertainer, Stapleton’s already discovered a approach to make use of these 4 awards — and the numerous others he is gained — to carry enjoyment to his followers.

“We’ve got a bit of VIP factor that you could go see out on the street. So we feature plenty of these sorts of issues out on the street so folks can see ’em, as a result of they actually belong to the followers,” the singer explains of how he’ll share he trophies along with his largest followers. “That is how I really feel about it, so I attempt to allow them to see them, maintain a few of these issues, out on the street.”