The 2017 CMA Awards will be a bit darker than most years in light of recent tragedies. Brad Paisley says that he and co-host Carrie Underwood will address the mass shooting that occurred at Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 and will honor the 58 country music fans who died.
“There’s pressure if you don’t handle it right,” Paisley tells Rolling Stone, acknowledging how difficult it will be to touch on the tragedy. “If you deal with it wrong, there’s an enormous amount of pressure.”
This will be Paisley and Underwood’s tenth consecutive year hosting the CMA Awards together, and the pair have been discussing how to best remember the victims of the Las Vegas shooting during the Nov. 8 live broadcast.
“We’re not going to ignore it, but we’re not going to also dwell on that,” he explains. “We have to make sure we honor those we’ve lost, but we also [have to] celebrate this music, which lives on, and do a good job having the heart we need to have on that night. And also the theme of the show this year is very much about unity and coming together as a format.”
While a brief segment during the awards show may be a somber one, country fans can count on Paisley and Underwood to bring the fun, too. In past years the two friends have poked fun at each other and members of the country community during hilarious skits and song parodies, and this year will surely be no different.
The 2017 CMA Awards air on Nov. 8 on ABC.
Remember: The best way to watch the CMAs is on TV, with ToC on your phone!
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This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
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