Keith Urban dedicated the opening performance at the 2022 CMT Music Awards to his fellow “Wild Hearts,” performing his top 10 Country Airplay hit to kick off the awards show.
The singer set an appropriately rocking tone to start the show, performing his signature guitar licks as lights flashed all around him. “Wild Hearts,” released back in August, is the lead single from Urban’s upcoming 12th album, which doesn’t yet have a release date or title.
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The country awards show — broadcasting on CBS for the very first time — made headlines earlier Monday (April 11) when co-host Kelsea Ballerini was forced to pull out of the show due to a positive COVID-19 test. Her fellow host, actor Anthony Mackie, was joined by a “backup KB” — country star Kane Brown, who has co-hosted the show twice before — to take her place.
Speaking of Brown, he’s the most nominated artist of the night, with four nods, including video of the year for “One Mississippi.”
While Urban isn’t nominated at Monday night’s CMT Music Awards, he’s a 15-time winner at the show overall — and he’s won every single time he’s been nominated.
