@country.and.western

🔥 **Jelly Roll & Brandon Lake** delivered a soul-stirring performance of *Hard Fought Hallelujah* at **CMA Fest 2025**! 🎶✨ Their voices, the emotion, the energy—it was a moment to remember. @officialjellyroll @brandonlakemusic 💬 **Drop a 🙌 if this gave you chills!** 📢 **Tag a friend who needs to hear this!** #JellyRoll #BrandonLake #HardFoughtHallelujah #CMAFest25 #CountryMusic #LiveMusic #NashvilleVibes #FYP You can relive the magic with their [Grand Ole Opry performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1chTstSFA) or check out their [K-LOVE Award-winning moment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPtJaOwyFwI)! 🎸🔥

♬ original sound – AndrewG605

Reba. Keith. Jelly. CoJo. Kelsea. Shaboozey.

Artists recognizable by a single name from country’s past, present and future were on display at the second day of the 52nd CMA Fest.

Whether having legendary career artifacts exhibited at Music City Center or causing fans to erupt into enormous sing-alongs at Nissan Stadium, charismatic country superstars weren’t hard to come by on a rain-soaked Friday in Nashville.

Reba McEntire’s ‘Fancy’ legacy celebrated

For the rest of the weekend at the 52nd CMA Fest, a much-beloved piece of the genre’s iconic history — the form-flattering, deep red gown Reba McEntire wore to perform “Fancy” at the 1993 Country Music Association Awards — is on display in a special exhibition at Music City Center.

There, fans of the legendary artist can engage in an “immersive and interactive experience that allows fans the chance to step a little bit behind the curtain and enter into Reba’s world,” says McEntire’s management coordinator, Tyler Lewis.

What is the most popular part of McEntire’s exhibition? Turning around in the “The Voice” chair, in honor of her four years as a judge on the NBC singing program. Makeup stations with her signature red hairdo plastered on mirrors for fun selfies, a set from her current NBC comedy program “Happy’s Place” and a life-sized box to mark her 2024 Funko Pop collaboration are other highlights.

“Outfits from moments that fans remember that haven’t been displayed are here,” Lewis said.

Reba McEntire fans can see a pop-up exhibit at Music City Center. The country star is partnering with Realtor.com, among many sponsors, at CMA Fest with a collection of outfits, memorabilia and "fancy" souvenirs. June 6, 2025.

That includes appearances at the 2024 Super Bowl, multiple performances of “Fancy,” receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018, plus costuming from her iconic 1986 video for “Whoever’s in New England.”

Cody Johnson brings the West

Bellowing cowboy anthems from under a Resistol hat while wearing a starched Wrangler shirt, Cody Johnson appeared more assured than ever as a name-brand country superstar at CMA Fest on Friday evening.

The performer’s growth from being a Music City outlier to an unlikely superstar once defined Johnson’s career arc. Now, he’s a CMA Award-winning superstar who hosts the soon-to-be ABC-broadcast CMA Fest TV special, leads the crowd in a sing-along to chart-topper “Dirt Cheap” and welcomes Northern Mexican country star CarinLeón to make his Nissan Stadium debut.

They performed their new, lovelorn collaboration “She Hurts Like Tequila” to a warm response from the 50,000-plus in attendance.

Cody Johnson performs at the CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 6, 2025.

Four years after its release, Johnson’s closer “‘Til You Can’t” could be country’s most underrated modern mega-anthem.

“If you got a chance, take it, take it while you got a chance / If you got a dream, chase it, ’cause a dream won’t chase you back,” he sang as the crowd responded with chants and cheers as loud as the song’s lyrics.

Jelly Roll’s charismatic energy stands out

Two years have elapsed since Jelly Roll debuted at Nissan Stadium on a mini-stage set into the 35-yard line.

With time comes evolution and artistic growth; now, more than anything, the joy, levity and electric energy the “Need A Favor” performer now consistently brings moves the needle for country music’s perpetually eager-to-be-entertained fanbase.

Jelly Roll joins Shaboozey as he performs at the CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 6, 2025.

On Friday evening, that energy elevated Shaboozey and Brandon Lake, two least anticipated to most wanted stars breaking out via country’s ever-broadening scope of pop influence.

After performing their gospel-meets-jam-band collaboration “Amen,” Jelly Roll screamed, “Shaboozey, welcome to my city of Nashville, Tennessee. It’s the most magical place on Earth!”

The crowd roared in agreement.

With Brandon Lake, backed by a gospel choir for “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” Jelly Roll’s energetic presence made Lake’s simultaneous country, pop, and rock crossover evolution feel less unprecedented and more seamless and entertaining.

It’s ‘Stick Season’ for Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan

At the sound of her name, fans shot out of their seats for Kelsea Ballerini. Singing from the shadows, she rolled out the welcome mat with “Blindsided” and, yes, it was the “(Yeah, Sure, Okay)” version. The audience chanted the three words at the tail end.

Her emerald, black and white jumpsuit glistened under the bright lights of Nissan.

“CMA Fest, you ready to start unpacking with us?” The 31-year-old put on her blue-green electric guitar to ask the important questions: “You ready to set the tone for the night?” and “Are we collectively damp?”

Ballerini came to CMA Fest as a 12-year-old after her mom surprised her with tickets for Christmas.

“We sat all the way up there in the top,” she said, pointing to the east upper echelon. “So I see you, and I’m sending love.”

Due to storm delays, she had to shorten her set. But if an artist plans a surprise guest like Noah Kahan, there will always be time. Wearing a “Kountry Club” shirt, he joined Ballerini for a duet of “Cowboys Cry Too” that had audience members losing their voices from all the shrieking.

Kahan stayed in the spotlight as a stagehand brought him a guitar.

“We have one more song for you,” she said, explaining June 6 is Kahan’s inaugural CMA Fest performance.

Noah Kahan joined Kelsea Ballerini at the CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 6, 2025.

“If you haven’t heard the song, you haven’t been in a Target,” Kahan said, introducing his ultra-popular song “Stick Season.”

And “that’ll have to do.”

Keith Urban showcases his country standard-defining excellence

Keith Urban gleefully feeds off crowd energy with the same whimsical smile small children have while wolfing down birthday cake and ice cream.

Before performing to close Friday evening at CMA Fest, the 13-time Country Music Association Award winner referred to himself and his ever-present guitar as a “package deal.”

Urban and his virtuoso skillset kicked off a brief string of hits with a grooving, jam-session-style take on his 2010 hit “Long Hot Summer.” Did he play his microphone like a percussion instrument during the performance? Yes, that happened.

Currently on tour, the beloved Nashville legend comfortably performed at his peerless peak. Thus, Urban and his retooled band ripped through a take on his rocking 2024 track “Straight Line.”

From intense pop anthems like “Wasted Time” to sing-along torch songs like “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” plus “Somebody Like You” and “Somewhere In My Car” with their thumping banjo and drum-led party grooves, Urban provided a broad, appealing country soundtrack.

Friday evening closed with Urban, as is his trademark, performing midfield at Nissan Stadium, as a still party-ready crowd danced and sang along into the Music City night.