Welcoming the new class of artists into the country music limelight, Billboard recently honored the genre’s fresh faces at the 2026 Billboard Country Power Players.
Hosted at Luke Combs’ Category 10 bar, the night recognized a number of big names, with Miranda Lambert taking home the major Icon award, Riley Green being crowned with the Hitmaker Award and the Red Clay Strays receiving the Groundbreaker award. Adding to the event’s massive honor, each award was also presented by fellow influential artists and music industry gurus.
In Tucker Wetmore’s case, he got to receive his new claimed title as the Rising Star Award winner from none other than singer-songwriter Michael Hardy. Now, while the two have yet to collaborate on any official projects together, they have shared quite some time on the road together over the past few weeks.
The “Wind Up Missin’ You” singer is one of the openers on Hardy’s current 2026 Country! Country! Tour, which kicked off this past February and is continuing across the United States through the end of August. Taking a break from their tumultuous schedule of traveling, Hardy handed off the rising star’s first-ever Billboard award at the event hosted at the start of CMA Fest week on June 3.
Recognizing the very special moment behind the event’s glass podium, Hardy very honestly told the crowd that while the two’s friendship may be VERY fresh, he already recognizes his strong work ethic: “I’ve only known Tucker for about a month now but I got to play a round of golf with him the other day and hang out with him a lot on the road and one thing that I do know about him is that he works extremely hard.” Emphasizing, “what comes from hard work is success and hopefully what comes with success is being recognized for that.”
Hardy also noted that Wetmore has been “workin’ his a** off” with the 26-year-old already claiming three number one hits to his name. Before handing off the trophy, Hardy added, “Man, you’ve taken Nashville by storm.”
Keeping the ball rolling on highlighting his admiration for the young artist, Hardy later in the day brought out Wetmore at his charity Hardy & Friends event hosted by Trend, benefiting the Hardy Fund. During the night, the two joined forces for an unexpected rendition of Wetmore’s smash 2025 hit, “Brunette.”
Both will return to the stage on Hardy’s headlining tour tonight, June 12, in Virginia Beach, followed by Wetmore’s last supporting date tomorrow night in Raleigh. As Hardy continues to tease his upcoming ‘experimental’ album, he also has only seven more stops to check off the list before rounding out the tour focused on his September 2025 album.
Tour Dates:
- 6/12 – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach – Virginia Beach, VA
- 6/13 – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek – Raleigh, NC
- 6/25 – BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
- 6/26 – Xfinity Center – Mansfield, MA
- 6/27 – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion – Camden, NJ
- 8/20 – Cooks Garage – Lubbock, TX
- 8/21 – Whitewater Amphitheater – New Braunfels, TX