On Sunday night, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bently will co-host the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. To promote the big show, the duo stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to perform the Merle Haggard classic, "Ramblin' Fever." April 6 marks one year since the country icon passed following a battle with pneumonia.
Bryan and Bentley — along with just about every other male country star — spent the formative days of their careers covering Haggard's material. These two guys may be the faces of Top 40 country's pop sound, but they clearly have a deep respect for Merle's music.
In this performance, they approach it with class and deliver a pretty damn good show. Although, with Colbert's house band, Stay Human, backing you up it's hard not to sound good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8t81S7cVT8
Next Thursday, a star-studded Merle Haggard tribute concert will take place at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. The show's impressive lineup includes Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Jamey Johnson, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and many more.
This year's ACMs will likely include some sort of tribute to the Hag. Whether or not they do, the broadcast will feature several marquee-name performances.
Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett are just a few of the major performances confirmed for the show. The latest buzz around Las Vegas is that Shania Twain may give a surprise performance of her new single.
The 2017 ACM Awards will air on Sunday, April 2 on CBS. Follow us on Facebook for live coverage of the event.
