Nashville resident Keith Urban was tapped to play his town’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration (formally dubbed Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville) for the second year in a row, and the singer/ace guitarist rose to the occasion with a truly heartwarming show that likely brought tears to many fans’ eyes.
Urban performed a stunning tribute to the many artists who passed in 2017 — opening up with a spine-chilling stanza of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” to honor the late Chris Cornell.
He then moved into a seamless medley sampling various songs, flowing effortlessly through a variety of musical styles: “Midnight Rider” to honor Gregg Allman, “Johnny B. Goode” for Chuck Berry, “Tulsa Time” for Don Williams, “Wichita Lineman” for Glen Campbell, “My Town” for Montgomery Gentry‘s Troy Gentry, and “Back in Black” for AC/DC’s Malcolm Young. As he played, photos of the late artists flashed behind him.
Urban closed out the tribute portion of his performance with the entire rendition of “Free Fallin'” for Tom Petty. The last song inspired the audience to join in a rousing singalong. Urban himself lightened the mood by asking “all the single people” to sing, then demanded the same of the couples in the audience (“New Year’s kisses coming up!”).
The evening also included Maren Morris–who dueted with Urban–Cheap Trick, Carly Pearce, Jonny P, Larkin Poe, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who all helped Music City usher in 2018.
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
