See Chris Stapleton Rip Through ‘White Horse’ on 2023 CMA Awards

Chris Stapleton might be having the busiest week in Nashville. Just two days before the release of his fifth album, Higher, the 45-year-old singer performed “White Horse,” the album’s storming lead single, on this year’s CMA Awards.

Backed by his core band, including wife Morgan Stapleton on vocals, and with Paul Franklin on pedal steel, Stapleton delivered a spine-chilling rendition of the mid-tempo rocker, which he co-wrote with Semisonic’s Dan Wilson. Stapleton is no stranger to the power of the CMA platform: it was only eight years ago that his performance of “Tennessee Whiskey” with Justin Timberlake on this very stage changed the trajectory of his career (and some would argue country music).

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But unlike his R&B arrangement on “Tennessee Whiskey,” his take on “White Horse” was sheer power and force, showing all the ways the Kentucky native’s voice has deepened and evolved over the past decade or so.

Later in the night, Stapleton is set to make another CMAs appearance, joining Carly Pearce on “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” her latest single, and the first since 2021’s 29: Written in Stone. “This song embodies a place that I think, if we are honest with ourselves, we’ve all felt at some point in a relationship,” Pearce said upon the release of “We Don’t Fight Anymore.”

Stapleton will release Higher on Friday, a record that once again teams him with longtime producer Dave Cobb (This time, however, Stapleton and Morgan both get producer credits too). It’s the follow-up to his 2020 album Starting Over. He’ll resume his All-American Road Show Tour in 2024, with dates scheduled through the summer.

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