Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert Perform Disco-Themed Duet at 2025 CMA Awards

One of the most discussed performances from the 2025 CMA Awards belonged to Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton, who took the stage in a retro disco style to perform "A Song to Sing." In Bridgestone Arena, illuminated by a disco ball that rotated above them and complete with a full band, the two country music veterans turned the venue into a roller rink, as the ceremony was hosted by Lainey Wilson.

The duet, released publicly in mid-2024 and produced by Dave Cobb at Georgia Mae Studios, blends country, soul, and 1970s nostalgia. This song, which Lambert, Stapleton, Jenee Fleenor, and Jesse Frasure collaborated on, features Fleenor's fiddle as well as Frasure's guidance on the groove of the song. It began with a characteristic rivalry of classic country duets and received GRAMMY nominations for Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song.

The live staging leaned fully into the throwback aesthetic, pairing shimmering lights with tight vocal harmonies on core lines such as “You are a part of me” and “Together we can write a song to sing.” The moment highlighted the duo's commitment to harmony over competition, while emphasizing Lambert's artistic evolution and their cross-genre chemistry.

In a statement, he said, “We've known each other for a long time. We've written songs together for a long time. She's one of the first people who ever cut a song of mine. She actually cut a song called ‘Nobody's Fool' that I wrote when I was 18 years old. So I have a long history with Miranda Lambert."

He continued, "So it's cool to, you know, cut songs that I wrote with her and then this is the first time we've ever done a duet together that we wrote, but we've had a long history and it's kinda fun to do things with old friends and we've got a huge band…. we called old friends and everybody up there just to have a big party up there onstage.”

Lambert added, “Singing with Chris, you have to be so powerful. Country music just bleeds out of my pores. But this song, with the soul part of it, how the melody goes and how soulful Chris is, I was like, ‘All right, I gotta step up and really find some other places to go in my voice.'”

The show also featured performances by Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Zach Top, Old Dominion, and BigXThaPlug, rounding out a night defined by celebration, collaboration, and boundary-pushing country music.