The second round of performances announced for the 2023 CMA Awards includes two collaborations scheduled for the genre’s reigning superstar, Morgan Wallen — one a medley of country classics with Post Malone and Hardy, and the other with a guest duet partner being held back as a surprise.
Also planned for the Nov. 8 broadcast on ABC is a tribute to Jimmy Buffett, via a medley that will have the late singer’s material performed by Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, the Zac Brown Band and a longtime member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, Mac McAnally.
Others announced in this second round of performers include Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, Kelsea Ballerini, Dan + Shay, the War and Treaty, Cody Johnson, Jordan Davis and Hardy.
Post Malone has often professed his love for country music, even as his last few albums have seen him making a transition from hip-hop to pop. He is a first-time performers on the CMAs. His appearance with Wallen and Hardy is being described as “a can’t-miss medley of country classics.” The second turn on the show by Wallen is being teased only as a duet with “a special guest” on an unspecified number from “One Thing at a Time,” which has been the commercially dominant album among all genres in 2023.
The Country Music Association revealed which songs the other newly announced performers will be doing. Combs, who is defending his two-year title as the entertainer of the year, will sing his new single “Where the Wild Things Are.” The husband-wife duo the War and Treaty, nominated for the first time this year, have a song that has continually been a knockout in live performance, “That’s How Love Is Made.” Ashley McBryde, who recently spoke about her current single “Light On in the Kitchen” with PvNew, will bring that number to the CMA stage.
Dan + Shay, also recently interviewed by PvNew about their new album, will sing “Save Me the Trouble.” Ballerini will do the plaintive “Leave Me Again,” from her especially autobiographical effort “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.” Davis will perform “Next Thing You Know,” and Johnson is set to give the viewing audience a taste of his new “The Painter.”
The first round of performers was announced last week. That rollout of names included Lainey Wilson, the leading nominee with nine nods, plus Jelly Roll, a runner-up with five, plus Chris Stapleton, Tanya Tucker, K. Michelle, Megan Moroney, Little Big Town, Old Dominion and show co-host Luke Bryan.
The CMA Awards telecast airs live on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at 8 p.m. ET Nov. 8, with on-demand streaming available starting the next day on Hulu.
