Flawless.
Several weeks ago, the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony took place in Washington, D.C., which recognized the King of Country Music alongside cultural icons like KISS, Sylvester Stallone, Broadway actor Michael Crawford, and disco legend Gloria Gaynor.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, the building was recently renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, and while President Donald Trump didn’t participate in the Kennedy Center Honors during his first term, he has become much more involved with the organization in his second term, even appointing country artist Lee Greenwood to the board. President Trump appointed himself as chair, while revamping the organization by bringing in an entirely new (not woke) group to run the Kennedy Center.
Many of us probably mostly know of the Kennedy Center, formerly known as The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, because of the annual Kennedy Center Honors event that inducts a new group of artists and entertainers each year.
Located in Washington, D.C., it’s a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, and notable country acts who have been honored over the years include legends like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, George Jones and many more.
And so it was only right that one of country music’s biggest stars, Miranda Lambert, was on-hand to celebrate The King, where she delivered a beautiful rendition of his hit “Run.” It’s one of my all-time favorite songs, and I was so excited to see that was the song Miranda got to perform during such an important evening for one of the genres most beloved and important artists.
Of course, “Run” was the lead single from Strait’s 2001 album The Road Less Traveled. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Country Charts three separate times, but was never able to claim the number one spot.
Miranda and George have performed them together before, but that was years ago and part of his 2014 The Cowboy Rides Away Tour: Live from AT&T Stadium, and I couldn’t think of a more perfect occasion for her to do it again.
In terms of other country acts taking the stage, Brooks & Dunn also performed for Strait, and Garth Brooks was also there, though he sang KISS’s “Shout It Out Loud” so I’m sure that will be an interesting one to watch too.
The full ceremony will air tonight on CBS, in addition to streaming in Paramount+, but it doesn’t get any better than this… I desperately need Miranda to cut this one in the studio. and that massive diamond bolo tie? Iconic…
Do yourself a favor and check it out. This is country music at its best:
“Run”
