One of the pinnacle moments of Chris Stapleton’s career was no doubt his career-defining performance at the 49th Annual Country Music Awards, held back in November 2015.
During the night, Stapleton took the stage at the Bridgestone Arena alongside none other than Justin Timberlake for an incredible standout rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Drink You Away.” The live medley of Stapleton’s covered classic and Timberlake’s 2013 hit absolutely catapulted the Kentucky native into a whole other planet of fame.
Not only did the unexpected duo lead to a massive increase in album sales for Stapleton and make him an even more highly respected and sought-after voice in the industry, but his rendition later became the first country song in history to go Double Diamond certified by the RIAA without ever even being released to radio. While the two stars’ performance continues to be one of the most talked-about moments in country music, prior to the iconic CMA moment, Eric Church had actually taken the stage with a little surprise of his own, and he was less than enthusiastic about the show-stealing follow-up act.
On a recent appearance on Bussin’ with the Boys, Church rehashed his sneaky scheme to hide the release of Mr. Misunderstood from both the general public and his label. Prior to the November 2015 drop of his fifth studio album, Church went behind the backs of his team by recruiting a record pressing plant in Germany to produce the CDs before sending out a bunch of albums to his loyal fans, before any sort of announcement.
The plan was, Church was going to debut the album’s title track as a surprise at the CMA awards, and then everyone could purchase it in stores the following day. Sure enough, the conniving strategy ended up hitting a few roadblocks, like the fact that none of the major distributors knew what the album was actually called in order to be able to put it on shelves.
He reveals, “as we had hid it, we also hid it from Walmart, and they had put (written) on there ‘Christmas CD, Christmas release,’ cause it was in November, no name.” With all the employees searching high and low for a “Christmas” album in their stock rooms, sure enough, they didn’t even know what to put out.
Luckily, with the eventual help from his label executive, they were able to chase the issue and correct the confusion before release day. But the bumps didn’t end there.
He goes on to say that as he finally reaches the final step of his plan, debuting the track and album news at the award ceremony, “We play Mr Misunderstood, and it’s great, and I feel so great about it.” Adding, “I finish playing, I feel good, and as I’m walking back to go backstage, Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake start ‘Tennessee Whiskey.’ That was the immediate performance after.”
He hilariously then admits, “They got halfway through, and I knew we were f*cked. Cause I thought everything we just did with a secret album, they just eliminated it because it’s one of those performances, right?” Church acknowledged that he was somewhat overshadowed by the performance’s success, joking, “It made Chris Stapleton. So we had to chase that a little bit, too.”
Luckily, the acclaim of Church’s 2015 album still followed suit even after the limelight was stolen with it, since going RIAA Platinum certified and later winning Album of the Year at the following 2016 CMAs.