Cody Johnson Dishes on ‘CMA Fest,’ ‘American Idol,’ Reba McEntire & More

Scott Fishman June 25, 2025, 12:09 pm

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Cody Johnson in CMA Fest — Disney/Robby Klein

It has already been a banner year for country superstar Cody Johnson. His “Leather Deluxe Tour” is in full swing with dates across the United States. The Texan landed a number one hit alongside Carrie Underwood with “I’m Gonna Love You.” They performed the song during the American Idol finale with Top 5 finalist Slater Nalley. Johnson marks another milestone when he co-hosts ABC’s CMA Fest concert special on June 26 with the returning Ashley McBryde.

The event, filmed in Nashville during the 52nd Annual CMA Fest, features a star-studded lineup of top names. Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Lainey Wilson, ZZ Top, Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts and Megan Moroney to name a few. Johnson will pull double duty taking the stage for “The Fall” and “She Hurts Like Tequila” with Carín León. McBryde also entertains the fans with “Rattlesnake Preacher.”

Here Johnson opens up about the CMA Fest special, acting aspirations, road life, and more.

Before we get into CMA Fest, you made a surprise appearance during the American Idol finale last month. How do you reflect on that night?

Cody Johnson: That wasn’t my first time to be a surprise guest on there, but this time it was a little more enjoyable. The first time I did it was last year, and we flew in from South Dakota to Los Angeles, landed at like 4 a.m. with soundcheck at 7 because I was doing a secret soundcheck with the show that evening. It was kind of a whirlwind. This time our schedule was a little more cush. I got to fly in and enjoy the ride. I got to be there for a really easy afternoon soundcheck. Watching Slater’s face was pretty good, seeing how surprised he was and talking to him. Just hearing the admiration he had for me and my music, it was an honor to do it. Of course, Carrie is always Carrie. She shows up and is a pro.

Ashley McBryde and Cody Johnson in CMA Fest

CMA FEST – ABC’s “CMA Fest presented by SoFi” hosted by Ashley McBryde and Cody Johnson. (Disney/Robby Klein)

I think within country music, maybe more than any other genre, we often see these cool collaborations. I know there is a fun one on the CMA show. What is it like to have these duets?

They are cool. It’s not something I did a whole lot earlier in my career. Obviously, being from Texas, there is a whole different sub genre of music in Texas. I would do duets with some of my friends who opened the door for me. Again, that was then giving me the rub and not the other way around. Those guys let me open up for them in bars and clubs and festivals and asked me to be on their records. Now when you’re getting into the upper echelon of the genre, it’s cool to be included and one of those guys like the duet you mentioned with Carin León. I reached out to him. I was sitting in this Mexican restaurant and heard this voice, this sound. I asked the waitress who it was, and she responded that it was Carin León. I immediately downloaded his albums, went back to the house. I can’t understand a word he is saying, but I knew his music made me feel good. There was something about it that was different from the typical Tejano music.

I wanted to write a song with this dude and do an international collaboration. He is huge in Mexico. He wants to be in country music, so why not. I would love to play a sold out show, so why not. We’ve talked about him inviting me to the Latin Grammys. I had him out at CMA Fest. I think the duet with Reba McEntire “Dear Rodeo” kind of spawned me into calling Jelly Roll and doing a collab with him. That kind of spawned reaching out for Carrie Underwood. Now for my next record, there is talk of me and Luke Combs doing a song together or me and Lainey Wilson doing a song together. Jay Buchanan from the rock band Rival Sons, we’re collaborating on a track right now. There are all these different things. I think it shows the versatility in country music of the artist when you can put two together and there is this unique feeling about it.

CODY JOHNSON, CARRIE UNDERWOOD, SLATER NALLEY (Disney/Christopher Willard)

How would your describe your first time hosting the CMA Fest?

You talk about collabs. Ashley had already done CMA Fest before. Getting the chance to do it with her this time felt like a collab on a song. You don’t want to overstep on the other artist. You want to complement the other artist. You want to have fun and be yourself. I’ve always been pretty charismatic. I feel more at home in front of a big crowd. I’ve always been that way. For me, hosting I didn’t need much to prepare other than doing script reads, making some changes and saying in the production meetings, “You know guys. I wouldn’t say it like that.” I would say the line the way I would say them or maybe a combination of what they needed to get in and what I would say. [EP] Robert Deaton and the production team did a really great job of transposing those and making sure when it hit the teleprompter it was the right speed, font size and it was my language versus what they had on the script. It really made it really easy.

What would you say are some of the performance highlights at this year’s event as a fan? What should viewers look out for?

I know the Brooks & Dunn set was one of the few I got to sit around and watch. The rest of them, we were backstage and finding out the next place to go and kind of catching pieces. Brooks & Dunn had Lainey Wilson and Marcus King, which are two of my favorites. Jelly Roll and Brandon Lake did “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” I thought that was really great and fitting. It wasn’t a huge production. It was just a couple of guitars, which really stands out when you have 50,000 people in a stadium and everyone is going for the big fire, confetti balls and things like that. Whenever you can go out there with just a guitar and get 50,000 people to singalong. That’s incredible.

CMA Fest in Nashville has been around for so many years. Do you have any favorite memories that really sum up what this event means to you and the fans?

I have to be selfish in I could pick other memories about seeing other artists and talk about how Keith Urban has performed 10 consecutive years. That is so pretty darn incredible. I have to be selfish and say whenever Reba McEntire comes out on stage with me. We did “Whoever’s in New England,” and it was one of the most electric moments because nobody had a clue. I’d cover that song I think only on my YouTube channel with just me and a guitar. It was a fun process because nobody knew about it but the producers, myself and Reba. We spent about a week and two going back on the phone with me FaceTiming her and playing the song to where I could do it in my car and transition and her key.

I had to get on the phone with her guitar player and ask how to transition from where I’m playing to this key without it sounding weird. So, he walked me through with a tutorial. When I was playing my guitar in front of 50,000 people and Reba McEntire walked out, I couldn’t hear anything. The crowd was so deafening. It was like Elvis came back from the dead. It was incredible. The hair on my body stood up. Reba is a good friend of mine. She is everything you want your heroes to be, so I was honored to share that moment with her. After she thanked me so much and said it was so much fun. I’m thinking, “Thank you!”

You mentioned Reba. There are so many country superstars that have transitioned to acting. Is that something you want to pursue?

I do. It has been an option before. I almost did a Yellowstone cameo, and we couldn’t make it work with my schedule. Taylor Sheridan is a good buddy. He sent me a script for the series 1883, and I read it highlighted in my areas of what part I may play. I loved it. It’s one of my favorite series. I love western movies too, being a cowboy myself. I just couldn’t make it work. I have recently sat down with my label, management and publicists and said, “Look, I really want to take these opportunities but we have to plan ahead. We have to figure out projects I can get on.”

For me, I can’t disappoint fans and cancel shows they already spent their hard earned dollar on to record a movie, even if it’s something I really want to do. I did a one-act play in high school. I won best actor one year. I enjoy it because acting is not that much different than performing on stage. You go into character mode and immerse yourself in whatever part that is, whether it’s a fast, upbeat and energetic song where you want to set the stadium on fire. Or if it’s really quiet and wants to make people think, it’s not that much different than being on camera.

Cody Johnson and Brandi Johnson attend the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards at Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star on May 08, 2025 in Frisco, Texas.

What has the tour been like? Summer is a great time to go to shows.

It has been crazy. I’ve been playing for 20 years. I spent over a decade as an independent artist and being an independent artist is really difficult because you’re playing in a van, trailer and playing some money grabs in the morning to hurry up and drive six or seven hours to a dance hall. I was selling my own merch, driving, it was so strenuous on me. There were so many times I thought about giving up because there was no traction. I decided there was no backup plan and let’s go and kept going. I think the cool thing about this year for me is the dates I’m playing are bigger. All the crowds are sold out. It’s weird now we’re running four buses and five semis and fixing to go to five buses and six semis and a whole security team. It’s crazy. Sometimes I have to pinch myself whenever I walk into the arena. It has that feeling of, “Well, I’m sure I stuck it out in the van.” Sold out my first stadium in Arlington, Texas, which was huge. A lot of people were reserved about the idea of me playing there. We’re not doing more stadium shows next year.

One of the coolest things to happen to me on tour was the crowd reaction like on American Idol. You wonder if they are going to skim over me. Am I important as the other guests that are here because there were some pretty guests on that show with a bigger status. But when the crowd goes crazy, you’re going holy crap I’m one of those people now. It’s hard work paying off. It’s the same when we played Scotland, Ireland, London, and four shows in Australia and a show in New Zealand. Every show with the exception of New Zealand was sold out. The crowd was insane. When you go to Glasgow and people are losing their minds and know every word to every song. I’m sure back then in the van I didn’t give up.

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Is there a go-to watch on the road or show you like binge-watching right now?

I don’t watch a whole lot of TV on the road, keeping pretty busy. I keep up on rodeo because it’s the life I live, being a cattle rancher, team roper and ex-bull rider. Rodeo is very important to me. At home, it’s weird because a lot of times we’ll put our kids to bed about 9 or 9:30. My wife is pregnant right now, so she may be up until 2 a.m. or 9 o’clock. Dad here is on a road schedule and I don’t go on stage till late and still hyped on that energy. It’s not an uncommon thing to be up till 2 in the morning. I’ll just turn on Netflix then and find an interesting documentary or crime series and binge it. People will say it took me weeks to watch that series, and I tell them it took me two days. Watching those do great when you’re going to bed and your dreams [laughs].

CMA Fest, June 26, 8/7c, ABC