Mickey Guyton hosted a tribute to country pioneer Linda Martell, the only black female country artist who scored a Top 20 single, “Color Him Father,” on country radio in 1969 and the first black woman to perform on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Martell was awarded with the CMT Equal Play Award, which promotes diversity.

We honored Linda Martell this year at the 2021 #CMTawards with the CMT Equal Play Award for being a trailblazer for artists of color in country music. Congrats from CMT and @seeherofficial! #SeeHer Hear Her pic.twitter.com/nMcvpNfaPh

— CMT (@CMT) June 10, 2021

Mickey, along with Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, 2020 CMT Equal Play recipient Jennifer Nettles, Rissi Palmer and Rhiannon Giddens, highlighted Martell’s contributions via video. Martell wasn’t able to be in Nashville to accept the award in person.

Mickey also performed with Breland followed by an electric performance with the legendary Gladys Knight.