In celebration of The 50th Annual CMA Awards, the CMA has created the biggest video in Country Music history. Titled “Forever Country,” the single and accompanying music video features 30 CMA Award-winning acts. This single was produced by CMA Award-winning Board member Shane McAnally and the video was directed by Grammy Award-winning director Joseph Kahn.
The song and music video weave a medley of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” together. All of the artists are former CMA Entertainers of the Year.
In another historic move, the single will be unveiled to the public Friday, September 16th in a global roadblock across Country radio, premiering on hundreds of radio stations simultaneously at 8:30 AM/ET across the U.S., in addition to premiering in key international markets. But fans will have to wait a few more days to see the full length music video; the video will make its worldwide premiere on Tuesday, September 20th.
For the past week fans have been buzzing across social media platforms trying to guess what the “Forever Country” project might be as the 30 acts featured in the video have been posting mysterious teasers created by CMA tagged with #ForeverCountry and driving fans to the website ForeverCountry50.com to see all of the artist teasers as they are released. Social teasers will continue to roll out this week until CMA announces the full list of participating artists.
“’Forever Country’ is a moving tribute to Country Music, Country Music fans, and the artists who have built this format into what it is today,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “This music video is the product of the CMA Board of Directors who came together in support of this project as a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the CMA Awards, a statement on the heritage and future of the Country Music industry, and a reflection of this year’s Awards theme — ‘Then. Now. Forever Country.’”
“The 50th Annual CMA Awards” will be hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday, November 2nd (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC.
For more information on “Forever Country” visit ForeverCountry50.com.
**Suggested Tweet**: JUST ANNOUNCED: CMA (@CountryMusic) reveals epic all-new #ForeverCountry music video & single with 30 #CMAawards winners!
A radio special about the song, hosted by Luke Bryan (as well as an unhosted version), will be made available on Friday (September 16th). A second radio special about the video will be available at the end of next week.
Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about "Forever Country."
DownloadDierks Bentley (Forever Country)
“I looked at the lyrics and I thought this is pretty cool, and I just figured a mashup meant they’d kind-of put the songs back-to-back I didn’t realize they’re kind-of woven together into one song. So I was in the studio with Shane [McAnally] and some folks from the CMA when I heard what they’d done, and I was like, ‘Wow! This is so cool.’ I could tell right away this was gonna be a huge moment in the CMA history. I was really excited to asked to be a part of it, and it was really cool to hear a lot of the vocals in there or almost all of the vocals in there…you know, McGraw and Reba and Keith Urban and Carrie and Brad and it’s just starting to come alive, and as a fan I think it’s gonna be an amazing thing to watch, and I’m on it so it’s pretty good. I get to be a fan and a singer, so it’s pretty cool.”
Audio / Brad Paisley says “Forever Country” is an epic and historic song.
DownloadBrad Paisley (Forever Country) OC: …a part of. :16
“I remember hearing that we needed to record pieces of these songs, so I went into the studio and did that. And they said it would work, and I said, ‘Alright, we’ll see,’ and they’re right! It works! It’s great. It’s so epic. It’s just really…it feels like a piece of history to be a part of.”
Audio / Blake Shelton said he was happy to be a part of "Forever Country," celebrating the CMA Awards 50th Anniversary.
DownloadBlake Shelton (Forever Country) OC: …magical. :42
“I got the call as an artist to be a part of this special mashup song that Shane McAnally I was told was producing the thing, and I really didn’t even ask what the song was, I just said sure I’d love to be a part of whatever you guys are doing. It’s just one of those that you’re just honored to be at all of these other artists company and be a part of a project like this and when I went to the studio and they said it was ‘On The Road Again,’ ‘Country Roads Take Me Home’ and ‘I Will Always Love You,’ and I was like, ‘What the…? How the…? How’s this gonna work? There’s no way these songs are gonna work together.’ Should’ve known, you know? Shane McAnally’s brilliant and came up with this really cool mashup. It’s magical.”
Audio / Faith Hill said hearing "Forever Country" put together, she got pretty emotional.
DownloadFaith Hill (Forever Country song) OC: …make me cry. :44
“I think the idea came from the CMAs to find a way to celebrate 50 years of the CMA Awards, which is mind-blowing to think you know that they’ve been around for so long but to bring some of the most iconic songs together is kind-of like, I guess you would call it like a mashup with all of these artists from the past, present it was amazing. The idea was such a great idea, then it was an honor to be asked to be a part of this group of people that I’ve admired and learned from and listened to my entire career and continue to do so but then once I heard the song all put together, the three songs put together, it did make me cry.”
