In a press conference, ACM co-hosts Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley told fans that they would not want to miss the opening number of the 52nd ACM Awards.
“We’re looking forward to the intro — the intro, the first six, seven minutes of [the show] is gonna be a lot of neat, special things happening,” Bryan said during a press conference on Friday (March 31), “And it’s gonna be good.”
At the time, all they could reveal was that they were “teaming up with a rock icon to honor a rock icon“, and boy, they did not disappoint.
They kicked off the awards show with a bang, with all of the Entertainer of the Year nominees joining in on the fun. Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line all took the stage to sing a medley of their hits.
The best part of the opening number was the very end, when rock legend Joe Walsh came out and everyone’s jaws dropped! Together, Walsh, Bryan and Bentley payed tribute to the late Chuck Berry with his iconic song “Johnny B. Goode”.
Bryan was able to show off his piano skills and the crowd was loving every minute of it!
Check out a few clips from the opening below!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSZwkOlBPni/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSZw2w1AONj/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSZz3fWAQ9E/?tagged=acms