CMA Fest 2025 kicked off on Thursday night (June 5) with more than 300 performers bringing their best performances across seven daytime stages and three nighttime stages in downtown Nashville. As the sun began to set, festival attendees — who had already spent hours immersed in music earlier in the day — made their way to Nissan Stadium to see some of country music’s top artists and rising newcomers perform.
According to the CMA, approximately 90,000 festivalgoers attended CMA Fest each day in 2024, with fans descending on Nashville from all 50 states as well as 46 other countries. According to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., last year’s CMA Fest generated a record-breaking $77.3 million in estimated direct visitor spending, spurring a 3.5% increase over the 2023 CMA Fest.
The artists on the Nissan Stadium mainstage Thursday night represented an aural tapestry, launching with a soul-stirring version of the national anthem by K. Michelle. This was followed by performances from Charles Esten, Ella Langley, Riley Green and Darius Rucker, while Scotty McCreery brought his signature neo-traditional sound to the stadium stage, Jason Aldean offered up a series of his hits, and Brooks & Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks continued showcasing just why they are Country Music Hall of Famers. Meanwhile, the Nissan Stadium Platform Stage featured the soaring, pop-inflected familial harmonies of Tigirlily Gold and the rustic Americana sounds of Max McNown.
Of course, any CMA Fest set includes the possibility of a surprise collaboration, heightening the crowd’s anticipation. The Thursday night Nissan Stadium lineup fulfilled that promise, with Travis Tritt (performing with Jason Aldean), Lainey Wilson and Marcus King (each performing with Brooks & Dunn) among those making surprise appearances.
Here, we highlight 5 top moments from CMA Fest’s Thursday night lineup:
Newcomer Max McNown played on one of his largest stages to date, making his Nissan Stadium debut on the Platform Stage on Thursday night. He brought a headliner’s confidence and a soulful, burnished vocal to his set, which included his breakthrough hits “Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)” and “A Lot More Free.” He added to his set by playing harmonica and even whistling during one song.
“Tonight is a dream come true,” Alabama native Ella Langley told the crowd in making her debut on the Nissan Stadium stage at CMA Fest. Feted earlier in the week with Billboard’s rising star award during the annual Billboard Country Power Players event, Langley brought a rock-star energy to her Nissan Stadium set. She offered up songs including “Paint the Town Blue” and welcomed Riley Green for a rendition of their CMA 2024 musical event of the year-winning “You Look Like You Love Me,” but the best moment came with a performance of “20-20,” when she descended the steps in front of the stage and joined fans below, shaking hands and making a real connection and bringing an intimate moment of connection directly with the (clearly thrilled) fans in the front.
The 6’4″ Riley Green may be country music’s newest heartthrob, but beyond the movie star looks, he’s been steadily amassing a solid catalog of well-constructed songs. Green came ready to unleash those songs on the Nissan Stadium crowd on Thursday night, with “Duckman” launching his set playfully with a duck call. Then he got down to business performing “Different ‘Round Here,” before welcoming Ella Langley back to the stage for a duet of “Don’t Mind If I Do,” the title track of Green’s 2024 album. He also offered up the soulful and sultry recent hit “Worst Way,” before presenting the highlight of his set: getting fans across the stadium to light up the night with their cell phones before he launched into his signature hit, the sentimental “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” even shifting one line to sing, “and I wish Nissan Stadium didn’t have no closing time.”
Earlier in the week, Rucker had welcomed fans to a musical evening at his Darius & Friends charity event at the Ryman Auditorium, performing both his solo country hits and Hootie & The Blowfish hits such as “Hold My Hand.” But that was just a warmup for his Thursday night Nissan Stadium set, as he got the entire stadium singing and dancing along to hits including “Come Back Song” and “Alright,” but also his RIAA Diamond-certified song “Wagon Wheel,” welcoming Old Crow Medicine Show for a rollicking, stadium-sized sing-along.
Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn proved that strong songcraft plus sterling vocals will win over a crowd every time, as they regaled the crowd with enduring hits including “Neon Moon” and welcomed Lainey Wilson for “Play Something Country.” But they turned in one of the evening’s brightest moments when they teamed with guitar maestro Marcus King, reimagining B&D’s hit “Rock My World (Little Country Girl)” into a bluesy rocker. Dunn called King one of the “coolest guitar slingers in the world,” while later on in the song, King and Brooks elated fans by trading off instrumental riffs with King on guitar and Brooks on harmonica.
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