#CMTAOTY: Phillip Phillips Goes Country

Phillip Phillips won American Idol in 2012. But on Wednesday night (Oct. 18), he won the hearts of country music fans everywhere.

He was there to honor one of the night’s winners, Sam Hunt, who wasn’t able to attend to CMT Artists of the Year show (Hunt was in Hawaii closing his 15 in a 30 Tour.). So Phillips took the country singer’s place on the stage to cover one of Hunt’s most successful songs yet. “Body Like a Back Road” broke records for having with the longest run at the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The single, released in early 2017, has been certified 3X platinum. Backing Phillips on the tune was one of biggest bands of the night, complete with a three-man horn section.

Phillips spent most of his adolescence growing up in the same small town that Luke Bryan calls home, so when the song came to an end, the Leesburg native was one of the first ones on his feet applauding Phillips’ soulful take on the smash.

Alison makes her living loving country music. She’s based in Chicago, but she’s always leaving her heart in Nashville.

This Article Was Originally Posted at www.CMT.com

http://www.cmt.com/news/1787762/cmtaoty-phillip-phillips-goes-country/

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