Luke Bryan is thrilled to not only perform on Sunday night’s ACM Awards, but he’s pretty excited about taking part in the CBS-TV special, Lionel Richie and Friends – In Concert, which will tape on Monday (April 2nd). “We had our fingers crossed certainly to be part of the Lionel Richie tribute thing,” says Luke. “He is by far in my top three most influential songwriters and artists of all time.” The other two are George Strait and Alabama’s Randy Owen. Luke originally met the iconic performer at last year’s CMA Awards. “He walked up and said, ‘Hey Luke!’ I mean I almost hit the floor backstage.” Luke then had the opportunity to sing with Lionel during CRS [Country Radio Seminar] last month. Luke, who is climbing the country charts with his latest single “Drunk on You,” will perform “Runnin’ With the Night,” during the special, which airs April 13th.
AUDIO: Luke Bryan talks about meeting Lionel Richie.
Luke Bryan (Lionel Richie) OC: …of all time. :34
“I’m doing [sings] ‘We were running with the night.’ So, yeah, I just recently got to meet, well, not meet for the first time. I met him at the CMAs. He walked up and said, ‘Hey Luke!’ I mean I almost hit the floor backstage. But for CRS, I had the opportunity to sing with him and meet him. And, we had our fingers crossed certainly to be part of the Lionel Richie tribute thing, and he is by far in my top three most influential songwriters and artists of all time.”
