Luke Bryan brought some famous friends out at his Nashville show, and he started out with a bang. During his Sept. 24 concert at Bridgestone Arena, the first guest of the night was none other than Bryan’s fellow American Idol judge, Carrie Underwood.
“I’m so honored about what’s going on tonight. We’ve been out on the road all summer doing the Word on the Street Tour, but we wanted to make a big ol’ fun party in Nashville tonight,” Bryan told the sold out crowd. “We wanted to call this Luke and Friends. It turns out that I’ve got some of the best damn friends in all of country music.”
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With that, Bryan began introducing the first friend of the evening.
“Ladies and gentleman, y’all see her with me on American Idol on your TV screen. She’s one of the biggest female country music stars of all time,” he said. “Give it up for the beautiful, the wonderful, Ms. Carrie Underwood.”
Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan Perform Together in Nashville
It was then that Underwood made her way on the stage to roaring cheers from the crowd.
“What do they need tonight Carrie?” Bryan asked.
“They need some ’90s country real bad,” she replied.
The pair proceeded to perform Diamond Rio’s 1991 hit, “Meet Me in the Middle.”
Afterwards, the duo’s fellow Idol judge Lionel Richie popped up in a pre-recorded video to reveal that all three of the stars are returning to the show for its upcoming 25th season.
Underwood still had more to do before she left the stage.
“We know Carrie’s the queen of country. She’s a rock and roll goddess, alright?” Bryan said. “So we can’t have her out here without doing some rock and roll.”
With that in mind, the opening notes to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” rang out, and Bryan and Underwood delivered an epic cover of the iconic track.
Underwood wasn’t the only special guest of the night. Throughout the concert, Bryan also welcomed out Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, and Chris Stapleton.
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ABA
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