Rapper-turned-country hitmaker BigXthaPlug and longtime genre superstar Luke Combs rocked the CMA Awards together on Wednesday night (Nov. 19) with the live TV debut of their teamup “Pray Hard.”
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Introduced by host Lainey Wilson (who called Combs her “camper trailer buddy”), the pair lit up the Bridgestone Arena stage in a semi-literal sense with their rousing rendition of the anthemic I Hope You’re Happy track, as flames licked the back of the stage, shooting up during Combs’ soaring chorus. At times, the pair perhaps even got a little too animated, as entire seconds of the performance were bleeped out on the broadcast, with the offending words being unclear.
It was the second performance of the night for Combs, who also kicked off the evening with a rendition of his Country Airplay chart-topping current hit “Back in the Saddle.” Combs was a three-time nominee on the evening, but went home empty-handed, as he lost male vocalist of the year to Cody Johnson and single of the year (for “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma”) to Ella Langley’s Riley Green-featuring “You Look Like You Love Me” — and shortly after his and BigX’s performance, Lainey Wilson denied him a third career entertainer of the year with her own second win of the coveted award.
BigXthaPlug is still relatively new to country music, with Happy marking his first full-length foray into the genre. “All the Way,” his teamup with country star Bailey Zimmerman, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year, a career-best showing for both artists.
