Luke Bryan, Ashley McBryde, Zach Top among Sunday's unforgettable moments at CMA Fest
Bailey Zimmerman's heart-on-his-sleeve passion. Luke Bryan's earnest, aw-shucks appeal. Dierks Bentley and Ashley McBryde showcasing stellar song catalogues and band leadership. With all of this and a lot more along the way Sunday evening, the 52nd CMA Fest closed its 2025 edition with a slate of established and rising country artists shining brightly as ever.
Some say country music is about faith, family and fun. For others, the genre boils down to three chords and the truth. But it's the power in how superstars deliver those values that has kept the genre's fans coming back to Music City's Nissan Stadium year after year.
And yes, even multi-platinum-selling rapper BigXThaPlug joined the festivities for his Zimmerman duet "All The Way," showing that when it hits just right, country music's appeal is stunningly broad and undeniable.
Here are the night's most memorable moments:
Co-signs from Alan Jackson and Dierks Bentley are among the reasons why Zach Top's 2024-released debut album "Cold Beer and Country Music" emerged as one of last year's must-listen smashes.
His Sunday evening set at the 52nd CMA Fest ushered in the next chapter of showcasing his uncanny ability to blend top-tier musicianship with deceptively simple songwriting into a hit-making blend.
Top's performance of "Sounds Like The Radio" swept the crowd into an almost immediate two-stepping frenzy.
More than ever, his sound feels comfortably flexible in filling floors on dancehall nights, appealing to a crowd at the Ryman Auditorium, or in any of the larger arenas, amphitheaters, or stadiums that have dotted his tour schedule for the past few years.
Songs like "Bad Luck," recent radio chart-topper "I Never Lie" and cheating anthem "Use Me" showcase the emotional range of his work. The latter's use of the pedal steel guitar adds an appreciable whiskey-woozy vibe to the waltz-time tempo.
Top also debuted his self-described "hopefully next great summer country anthem," 'Good Times & Tan Lines' during the set.
Time will tell if his assertion is correct, but the fawning approval of 50,000 country fans to its honky-tonk twang on a perfect Nashville Sunday night feels like it's off to a great start.
Back-to-back years' CMA Fest co-host Ashley McBryde brought her swagger to the Nissan Stadium stage. As expected, the tattooed and leather pant-clad rocker performed a rousing blend of rootsy and authentically heartfelt sounds.
The CMA award winner's scintillating "Rattlesnake Preacher" kicked off her set, followed by "Made For This," the 2023 ode to her hard-touring lifestyle and "Devil I Know" album track.
McBryde performing a cover of Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" was unexpected. But the performer and her band are skilled in whipping up excitable crowd, even when it means defying genre expectations. Her rendition was a sing-along moment.
There's something about songs like "Ain't Enough Water In The River" and "One Night Standards" that makes them feel like well-worn A-sides and B-sides of long-treasured records.
"The thing I love about country music is that sad songs keep us happy and cheating songs keep us faithful," McBryde said before playing the "cheating song" "Tired Of Being Happy."
McBryde closed her set by welcoming the New Orleans Roots of Music band to the stage. The group that promotes the Crescent City's musical heritage through music education and mentorship received a round of applause.
Twenty-one year-old Avery Anna achieved her biggest dreams of country stardom via her performance on CMA Fest's platform stage in the center of the crowd at Nissan Stadium.
Briefly overwhelmed by the opportunity, she played a vulnerable rendition of "Indigo," her grief-stricken duet with Sam Barber, which currently rising through the ranks of the country radio charts.
She stopped at the end of her chorus, eyes welling with tears. 'I can't sing the last line,' she said, smiling.
Another underground-to-mainstream success story, Big Loud-signed Alabama native Kashus Culpepper performed "After Me?" and "Pour Me Out," two of his growing collection of earnestly sung and well-regarded material, on Nissan Stadium's platform stage.
"Blows my mind," the blues, folk, gospel and soul-rooted rising star offered to an impressed crowd.
Dierks Bentley, the "Burning Man" himself, brought the crowd to their feet the second the first guitar strum lit the stage afire.
"This is the greatest weekend of our lives, we call it the 'Country Music singers' Thanksgiving,'" Bentley told the crowd.
Audience cutaways showed fans swaying their hands and lip syncing, "I've been gone, I've been gone, I've been sittin' on the couch watching TV all day long."
Bentley's gravel-edge rasp flowed like a smooth river. He injected energy into Nissan Stadium his toe-tapping singles, "Burnin' Man," "Gone" and "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)."
Bentley is set to release his album, "Broken Branches," on June 13. He offered a taste with his final song, "She Hates Me."
"This is the all-star fans, the greatest of the greats," Bentley bragged to the audience of country music's No. 1 fans. "Such an honor to be here."
The father of three brought Zach Top back to the stage for a hip-swaying, knee-slapping rendition of Alabama's classic "Mountain Music."
Before letting Top go, Bentley put his arm around the 27-year-old in a fatherly way, "Let me tell you something about this guy… This is the future of country music right here, Zach Top. Now get your ass out of here."
Bentley jumped into "What Was I Thinking?" and then took a literal meaning to the song title, telling the crowd that it was his last song and walking off. Before he escaped the spotlight, he paused and counted his fingers. He then had an "aha moment," turned around and said he had one more song, his mega hit, "Drunk on a Plane."
Luke Bryan, 30 No. 1 hits (and counting), closed CMA Fest with a set primarily comprised of instantly recognizable country radio anthems, including his most recent "Mind of A Country Boy" album hit, "Love You, Miss You, Mean It."
Appropriately, the "American Idol" co-host opened with "I Don't Want This Night to End" and "Kick The Dust Up," a pair of still-beloved, decade-old hits.
Strapping on an electric guitar and leading his band headlong into "What Makes You Country," Bryan flashed a youthful smile. The opportunity to close CMA Fest motivated Bryan to push his vocal and instrumental abilities to the limit.
Did that include sitting at a piano to perform the crowd favorite power ballad "Strip It Down?" It sure did.
Before a still eager Sunday evening crowd, his hip-shimmying cheekiness showcased during "Knockin' Boots" and "That's My Kind of Night" and the most commonplace of rural ideals, say, like, "hunting, fishing and loving every day," translated to ear-warming choruses.
As the night wore into Monday morning, Bryan unleashed "Country Girl Shake It For Me," arguably his career-defining hit.
The type of frenzy the banjo-driven down-home rocker whips fans into hit a new level as CMA Fest closed. During the celebration, a Nissan Stadium security guard and "Rodney," a Resistol hat and American flag overall-clad fan, were invited onstage to dance alongside the country superstar.
"We love you Nashville," offered Bryan as his band played into the night.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: CMA Fest: Luke Bryan, Ashley McBryde, Zach Top among the best moments
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