In honor of the CMA Awards 50th anniversary this year, 30 of country music’s biggest stars came together to record a new song and video, “Forever Country.” Last week, the new video for “Forever Country” took the country-loving world by storm, amassing more than 5.5 million hits on YouTube.
The medley features a fresh take on three of country music’s most iconic songs: John Denver’s “Take Me Home,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” The new tune, which was produced by Shane McAnally, features vocals from Willie, Dolly, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and more.
“When I kind of first heard the idea of them mashing up ‘I Will Always Love You,’ ‘Take Me Home Country Road’ and ‘On the Road Again,’ I was like ‘How’s that gonna work?’ because they’re three very different songs by three very different artists,” says Carrie Underwood in a new behind-the-scenes clip about the making of the music video. “I’m honored to be a part of it and to be singing parts on ‘I Will Always Love You,” which I actually do in my tour set, so it’s perfect.”
Check out what other artists, including Tim McGraw, Ronnie Milsap, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, director Joseph Kahn and producer Shane McAnally, had to say about the making of the video.
