Jordan Davis left plenty of fans misty-eyed at the 2023 ACM Awards on Thursday night (May 11), performing a tender rendition of his current single, “Next Thing You Know.”
Davis’ performance took place during the live broadcast of the show, toward the end.
The Louisiana-born singer performed the rising single from a smaller stage in Ford Center, offering a stripped-down version of the tune celebrating family life, and he stayed sitting for the entire of the song to allow every lyric of the of the story to stand out. The stage shone with white spotlights as he sang, which also aided in the simple, but meaningful delivery.
One of the tracks off Davis’ early-2023 Bluebird Days album, “Next Thing You Know” is a gripping meditation on how fast life goes — from meeting a girl and falling in love to getting married, becoming a dad and more. The song immediately made a big impact, even inspiring its own TikTok trend. But leading up to the ACMs, Davis admitted to Taste of Country that he almost didn’t record the song at all.
“It doesn’t have a traditional chorus, so it’s kinda structured differently. I didn’t know how that would translate,” he reasoned. “I pretty much got talked into recording it, and now it’s gone on to be one of the biggest songs I’ve ever put out, so it’s been cool to see that happen.”
In addition to performing on Thursday night’s show, Davis earned a nomination in the Male Artist of the Year category.
The 2023 ACM Awards were streamed live Amazon Prime Video from Frisco, Texas’ Ford Center. Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks co-hosted the show.
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