Which songs should George Strait and Garth Brooks sing at the ACMs?
The Academy of Country Music Awards is coming your way live on CBS Sunday night at 8PM EST. The show promises an impressive list of performers but the big highlight of the evening will feature the two reigning AMC Artists of the Decade, George Strait and Garth Brooks.
The two mega-stars are coming together to honor the late Dick Clark after a letter to both artists was handwritten by Clark’s son, R.A. Clark. The elder Clark began producing the ACM awards back in 1979 and is credited with helping bring country music to a much wider audience.
At the request of the reclusive Brooks, the academy also is renaming the once-every-10-years award the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award.
R.A. Clark stated that each artist would be performing one of their own classic individual hits and will team up at the conclusion for a duet that will be one of the two artists’ songs. He remained tight-lipped on what these songs will be so I thought I’d let our readers weigh in on what they’d like to see.
The best I can gather, between the two you have nearly 80 #1, 80, singles to choose from. Heck son, there’s a campaign right now to get George’s latest single, “Give It All We Got Tonight,” to #1 called, 60for60. I think the term “classic” is a hint, and based on that I’ll take my shots in the dark.
I say George opens the final set with “Amarillo By Morning.” I’ve seen Strait live a few times and this always felt like his defining signature song. I think it’s one of the all-time great tracks in country music history and would set the stage for something truly special.
For Garth I think it’s a little tougher. Amarillo has a slow pace and I’m not sure if they’ll want to go back to back with that type of vibe. I’m going to go with “Friends In Low Places” as Garth’s choice as he ignites the crowd to set up the killer closer.
Now for the duet, we know it’s gonna be one of the two artist’s songs. Strait once performed “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” for Garth during his Country Music Hall of Fame dedication but I can’t see that. I say that Brooks gives the honor to his influence and that the final performance will be a Strait song. On that note, I’m gonna guess it’s the song that Strait closes all of his shows with, “Cowboy Rides Away.”
For all you country fans out there – what songs would you like to see George and Garth perform Sunday night?