CMT Music Awards 2024's most rousing performances of the night (2024)

A flurry of country crooners descended upon the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on Sunday for the annual CMT Music Awards.

On one of the biggest nights of country music, fan-favorite artists including Kelsea Ballerini, Jelly Roll andLainey Wilson took the stage for memorable performances, including a musical tribute to Toby Keith.

Other performers who took the stage include Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney, Old Dominion, Parker McCollum, Brittney Spencer, Bailey Zimmerman, Sam Hunt, Jason Aldean, and more.

Ballerini, 30, went from award show host and transformed into a golden goddess as she took the stage to perform her 2015 debut single Love Me Like You Mean It.

The four-time Grammy nominee — who shared a steamy kiss with her beauChase Stokes on the red carpet — was stunning as she modeled a sparkling, rhinestoned leotard and gold glitter on her eyes to match.

She also joined Melissa Etheridge for a performance of her 1993 rock hit Come To My Window.

After Ballerini delivered her opening monologue, Cody Johnson kicked off the show with his hit Texan anthem That's Texas.

Jelly Roll — who won three awards for his hit single Need A Favor — wrapped up the ceremony with an electrifying performance of his song Halfway to Hell from his seventh solo studio album Whitsitt Chapel.

Wilson got the crowd dancing and singing along with her funky new single Country's Cool Again — which is her first release since her 2022 album Bell Bottom Country.

For her performance, the Louisiana native — who walked the red carpet with her hunky quarterback boyfriend Devlin Hodges — slipped into a skintight, leather ensemble.

Wilson was also one of three performers tapped to pay a touching musical tribute to honor the late country legend Toby Keith and his legacy.

The beloved singer passed away at the age of 62 in February earlier this year. In his memory, Wilson as well as Brooks & Dunn and Sammy Hagar took the stage to perform a few of his many hit songs.

With three of his surviving children in attendance at the award show,Wilson performed How Do You Like Me Now?! in a chic suede jacket decorated with patches, studs and lined with fringe on the sleeves.

For a touching musical tribute to honor Wearing a Toby Keith T-shirt, Hagar reminisced on one of his fond memories of the beloved country star.

'Toby and I, we spent a lot of time in Cabo together over the years,' he recalled.

'We closed the Cabo Wabo down a lot more times than we remember. It's hard to get thrown out of your own bar and we managed to do that.'

The rocker then performed Keith's 2003 hit song I Love This Bar.

Brooks & Dunn paid tribute with a smashing rendition of Keith's 1993 debut single Should've Been A Cowboy from his self-titled debut album.

The award show was also graced by Trisha Yearwood and her honey vocals as she debutedthe lead single from her untitled upcoming 16th studio album —Put It In A Song.

Hunt performed his new song Locked Up — which he explained was a nod to Johnny Cash's concert at Folsom Prison prior to the award show.

Keith Urban performed Straight Line for his very first live performance of his new blue grass song.

The song is one of two singles from his upcoming album which is set for release later this year in the fall; he dropped his other single Messed Up As Me in February.

And nearly a year after Jason Aldean's controversial Try That in a Small Town was banned from the award show, he took the stage again and performed Let Your Boys Be Country.

Country-pop newcomer Dashaperformed her viral single Austin for her 'first time' in the namesake city and as she made her debut at the annual award ceremony.

Megan Moroney made her CMT main stage debut as she performed Can't Break Up Now with Old Dominion.

Little Big Town and Sugarland also took the stage as the two country groups came together to perform a cover of Phil Collins' 1985 hit song Take Me Home.

The rapper-turned-country star Jelly Roll erased any doubts about his new passion when he swept the 2024 CMT Music Awards with three majors wins, including the top honor, Video of the Year.

He beat a tough crowdKacey Musgraves, Darius Rucker, host Kelsea Ballerini, Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson, Mickey Guyton and Kane Brown and Tyler Childers, among many others.

Jelly Roll offered hope to incarcerated teens when he won Male Video of the Year, and he held back tears after his first win for CMT Performance of the Year.

The show, which was held in Austin, Texas, also featured a key win from Lainey Wilson for Female Video of the Year.

She conquered an impressive list of nominees, including Ashley McBryde, Gabby Barrett, Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, Megan Moroney and Reba McEntire.

Trisha Yearwood was honored with the inaugural June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award

The show aired live from Austin's Moody Center and was hosted by Ballerini for the fourth time in a row.

She went solo, after previously co-hosting with Kane Brown, though she announced that it would be her final time hosting at the end of the show.

Ashley Cooke and Warren Zeiders were honored with the Female and Male Breakthrough Video of the Year awards, while Carly Pearce with Chris Stapleton and Dan + Shay were also honored.

The show featured an all-star tribute to the late country star Toby Keith, with Roger Clemens and Willie Nelson's son Lukas Neilson doing the introductions and Brooks & Dunn, former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar and Lainey Wilson leading the performances in Toby's hitsShould’ve Been A Cowboy, I Love This Bar andHow Do Ya Like Me Now?.

In her pre-announced with for the first-ever June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award, the singer and wife of Garth Brooks praised the award's namesake. She was joined at the ceremony byJohn Carter Cash, the only child June shared with her third and final husband, Johnny Cash.

Billy Bob Thornton, Emma Roberts, Minnie Driver, James Van Der Beek and Jane Seymour offered a touch of Hollywood when they presented awards.

Nominees for this year's awards show were announced last month.

Morgan Wallen, one of the genre's top stars, received only one nomination — for Male Video of the Year for Last Night (One Record at a Time Sessions) — and he was shut out when Jelly Roll won.