The 50th annual Country Music Association Awards certainly did not pull any punches in terms of wowing its audience — the show, from its very first minutes, delivered a stunning range of hits and artists that built the powerhouse genre over a full half century. A special surprise was promised around the midpoint of the show. How to beat the show’s already huge wash of performances from standouts spanning 50 years of country music?

Turns out, it took a queen to do the job — Queen Beyoncé, to be exact. However, the markedly non-country pop star had a bit of help — she was accompanied by probably the only act in country music that could hold their own against her star power: Namely, the famous/infamous/beloved/reviled Dixie Chicks.

In what was arguably the performance of the night, the Chicks and Bey took the stage together without any staggered fanfare, introducing their collaboration by each woman announcing “Texas” — the state where all four of them claim roots.

From there, it was all an over-the-top party, with the Chicks all gleefully accompanying Beyoncé on her bluegrass/rootsy-tinged Lemonade track “Daddy Lessons,” a song that translates to the country genre with extraordinary ease.

While doubtless some of the audience was hoping for famously controversial Chicks frontwoman Natalie Maines to insert some acerbic commentary about the looming election (the Chicks have already slammed GOP candidate Donald Trump with a defaced picture of him backdropping their 2016 world tour), Maines eschewed any political statements, choosing instead to simply have fun rocking out on guitar and singing several stanzas of Beyoncé’s tune.

In the middle of the song, gears shifted to a stanza of the Chicks’ Grammy-winning 2002 anthem “Long Time Gone,” which meshed seamlessly with both Beyoncé’s own single and her equally enthusiastic, booty-shaking contribution to the country hit.

While the combination in theory could easily have gone over the top in terms of pop-culture power — with some country purists likely questioning Beyoncé’s inclusion at all — the four women created a playful synergy that kept the collaboration light and in the spirit of the night’s celebratory vibe.

The 50th annual CMA Awards were held Nov. 2 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Source:yahoo.com