Awards shows are, by their nature, a competitive format, but when the Country Music Association reached a milestone with its 50th annual awards in 2016, the organization projected a spirit of unity with an intricate single that debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart dated Oct. 8, 2016.
“Forever Country” brought together 30 former CMA award-winners in a four-minute mash-up of three classic songs: John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Billed as Artists of Then, Now & Forever, the individual acts recorded their parts separately, cutting their vocals with producer Shane McAnally (Lady A, Kacey Musgraves) in Nashville when it fit their schedules. Video director Joseph Kahn captured most of the visual content in front of a green screen over three days during the CMA Music Festival that June.
Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert were the first two recorded, with the likes of George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Blake Shelton, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood adding their voices as the project developed. Randy Travis, who was three years removed from a stroke, appears only in the video.
MCA Nashville released “Forever Country” on Sept. 16, 2016, and the video premiered four days later on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars ahead of its two-week reign on the chart.
In addition to topping the multimetric Hot Country Songs, the single led both Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales, while also rising to No. 32 on Country Airplay. On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, it hit No. 21.
The following spring, the CMA clip earned the video of the year award from the rival Academy of Country Music.
ABC airs the 60th CMA Awards on Nov. 18 from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” cowriter Bill Danoff marveled to Billboard in 2017 about “Forever Country. “When I saw it,” he said, “Brad Paisley, who’s from West Virginia, singing my song … beautiful.”
