Just a few years ago, only a select number of country fans had any idea who Chris Stapleton was. Those fans were the ones who knew him as one of the master songwriters behind some of the genre’s greatest hits, such as Kenny Chesney‘s “Nothing Wanted Nothing More” and Josh Turner‘s “Your Man.”
Then the 2015 CMA Awards came along and changed everything. Stapleton performed that night with Justin Timberlake, singing the pop star’s song “Drink You Away” and his own rendition of the David Allan Coe/George Jones track, “Tennessee Whiskey.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjqvOil10VU
The performance shot Stapleton to instant stardom. In the short time that has passed since then he has scored five Grammy Awards, seven ACM Awards, and seven CMA Awards.
Stapleton’s sudden fame also allowed him to start headlining his own shows, packing stadiums all over the country. In June, Stapleton performed for another massive crowd in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena as part of CMA Fest.
Of course, no performance of his would be complete without a little “Tennessee Whiskey,” which the crowd went wild for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He756geZteM
But Stapleton also took the time to treat the crowd to some new tunes too. One of the tracks he performed was “Millionaire,” which was released as the first single off of his album From A Room: Volume 2 in late April.
Since the song was still fairly new, Stapleton’s CMA Fest performance marked the first time many heard him sing it live. If you missed out on that experience, you’re in luck, because ABC aired some of the festival’s best performances during its annual CMA Fest special on Wednesday night (August 8).
Stapleton singing “Millionaire” was one of the bits that made the final cut, and you’ll be grateful it did. If you happened to miss the CMA Fest when it aired on TV, you can catch a snippet of Stapleton’s performance below. It was quite spectacular!