CMT Music Awards 2023: Kelsea Ballerini Performs With RuPaul Drag Queens, Plus All the Winners
It was a big night for Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll at the CMT Music Awards on Sunday (April 2), but co-host Kelsea Ballerini stole the show when she performed on stage with four drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. The singer’s bold choice came amid moves in her home state of Tennessee to ban drag shows. Nashville’s biggest stars had decamped to Austin, Texas, for the annual awards show, where country fans vote for the winners.
Bellerini hosted the event with Kane Brown, which included performances from the likes of Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, Alanis Morisette, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, the Black Crowes and Darius Rucker. The show was broadcast live on CBS with streaming and on demand on Paramount+. Veteran rock star Peter Frampton introduced a special tribute to legendary band Lynyrd Skynyrd which featured Chuck Leavell, Billy Gibbons, Cody Johnson, Paul Rodgers, Slash, Warren Haynes Wynonna Judd and LeAnn Rimes performing “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Simple Man.”
But undoubtedly one of the biggest talking points of the night came when Ballerini performed her 2022 hit “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” and was joined on stage by four dancing stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race: Olivia Lux, Jan Sport, Kennedy Davenport and Manila Luzon.
“Thank you to these iconic queens…for celebrating love, self expression, and performance.” Ballerini posted online after the show stopping performance.
if you go down, i’m going down too 🏳️🌈 // thank you to these iconic queens and @manilaluzon @kennedyddoftx @janjanjan @TheOliviaLux and @CMT for celebrating love, self expression, and performance.
📸 John Shearer @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/jZ3JTVI3ny
— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) April 3, 2023
“Just like all these amazing country music artists, we drag queens are also artists. And we deserve space to be ourselves, express ourselves, and create something wonderful for everyone to enjoy,” Luzon said to ET following the performance, which featured rainbow lighting and confetti.
The night proved to be huge for Jelly Roll who was the most successful artist with three trophies. Lainey Wilson won two awards, including Female Video of the Year for “Heart Like a Truck.” Video of the Year was awarded to Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown for “Thank God.” See who else triumphed, below:
2023 CMT MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS
VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown – “Thank God”
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Jelly Roll – “Son Of A Sinner”
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Lainey Wilson – “Heart Like A Truck”
GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR: Zac BrownBand – “Out In The Middle”
BREAKTHROUGH MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Jelly Roll – “Son Of A Sinner”
BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Megan Moroney – “Tennessee Orange”
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR: HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson – “wait in the truck”
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR: Cody Johnson – “Til You Can’t” (from 2022 CMT Music Awards)
CMT DIGITAL-FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR: Jelly Roll – “Son Of A Sinner” (from CMT All Access)
RuPaul's Drag Race where to stream
