Carrie Underwood performs “Softly and Tenderly” during an In Memoriam tribute at the 51st annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. AP photo
Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood gave one of the most powerful performances of Wednesday night’s 51st Annual CMA Awards with a beautiful old hymn.
As previously reported, Underwood became emotional during the Country Music Association’s star-studded award extravaganza as she crooned “Softly and Tenderly” during the touching in memoriam segment.
As usual for an awards show in memoriam segment, the accompanying video presentation paid homage to people in the music industry who had died in the past year, including Glen Campbell, Tom Petty, Troy Gentry, Butch Trucks, Don Williams and Wendell Goodman, the husband and longtime manager of Oklahoma music legend Wanda Jackson.
But the segment also memorialized the more than 50 people who were killed Oct. 1 at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, where a gunman fired into the crowd while country superstar Jason Aldean was performing.
Underwood, who will be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame next week, seemed to fight back tears as the giant video screens filled with the faces of the country music fans who died in the shooting.
Revisit the performance in full here:
