State Champ Radio Billboard Country Live
If you bring together six hot Country artists and add in some ice-cold beer, you get one memorable evening of live music. That’s exactly what fans experienced at Category 10 in Nashville on the first day of CMA Fest thanks to Billboard Country Live presented by Bud Light. Each artist gave fans 20 minutes of some of their top songs with a sprinkle – or three – of unexpected covers to spice things up.
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The Thursday (June 5) event welcomed attendees into the multi-story music venue to kick off an unforgettable weekend of country music. The packed first floor made room for line dancing between acts while DJ Grant Fisher provided country, hip-hop, and EDM beats. On the second and third floors, fans lined up against the railings while sipping on Bud Light to get a glimpse of the Billboard-curated evening.
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Bud Light not only provided the draft pours and tall boys, but they also decked out the venue in vibrant neon decorations, gave fans stylish snap-back hats and bandanas, and created a custom photo moment for attendees to capture a snapshot to remember the epic evening.
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CMT host Carissa Culiner emceed the evening, welcoming everyone in for several hours of entertainment before kicking off the festivities.
Reyna Roberts
Reyna Roberts at the Billboard Country Live concert at Category 10 on June 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Many first heard Roberts’ name when she appeared on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album. But this evening’s performance showed she can stand by herself just fine. She rocked her signature red mane under a white cowboy hat, which perfectly matched her bustier, chaps and boots. Possibly taking a note from Queen Bey, her hair flowed as she worked the stage.
Roberts performed tunes including”Lawless”, “Louisiana”, “Raised Right” and treated fans to a performance of an upcoming song “Mustangs Over Bentleys.” She also told a heart-warming story before performing Gretchen Wilson’s “Here For The Party” about how she sang that song for her first on-stage performance at the age of 9 while in elementary school. She brought the party on stage with a Bud Light in hand to share a toast with fans, thanking them for their support at another CMA Fest. She spread the love saying, “I love God, I love Billboard, and I love Bud Light!”
Alexandra Kay
Alexandra Kay at the Billboard Country Live concert at Category 10 on June 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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A shining light of the evening, Alexandra Kay had the audience singing along to her hits, along with an unexpected pop cover song. You could be distracted by her pink, bedazzled mic stand if it weren’t for Kay’s strong vocals and effervescent personality. From turning her songs into sing-a-longs to taking a singing selfie video on a fan’s phone, the energy in the room reached another level.
She had one of the biggest surprises of the evening when she launched into a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” a song about leaving Tennessee for Los Angeles where you find yourself dancing on stage at a gay bar. She sang fan-favorites like “Backroad Therapy” and “Everleave” but paused to take a moment to thank her fans for helping her get to this moment. She also gave Jelly Roll, her tour partner and oftentimes collaborator, a shout out for helping further her career. After years of being an independent artist, she recently signed to BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville.
Drew Baldridge
Drew Baldridge at the Billboard Country Live concert at Category 10 on June 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Drew Baldridge’s set was a celebration of hard work and a victory lap for the past year’s accomplishments. He started the show off by shouting out all the country girls and country boys and warming up the crowd. Baldridge quickly raised a Bud Light to give a cheers to ’90s Country music and proceeded to give fans a medley of hits from Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It” to the late Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” and “Brand New Man” by Brooks & Dunn.
Baldridge brought the emotion, performing “Can She Have This Dance” which he wrote for his wife to dance to on their wedding day. After leaving Nashville and performing more than 400 backyard parties during the pandemic, he began to gain the recognition he deserved with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” a song he took to No. 3 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as an independent artist (he’s since signed with BBR Music Group). He told fans “I’m not making music for Nashville. I’m not making music for country radio. I’m making music for y’all,” before closing his set with the inspirational “Tough People.”
Max McNown
Max McNown at the Billboard Country Live concert at Category 10 on June 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Max McNown kept the show going, bringing energy to the stage and making connections with the audience. He started his set off with last year’s hit “Love Me Back.” Mid-song, he grabbed a fan’s phone to take a selfie with the crowd, then told the audience about having to run a mile through downtown Nashville to get to the show on time, adding that he’d then have to sprint to Nissan Stadium after the performance to make his set and stadium debut on the Platform Stage. He balanced his Billboard/Bud Light set with his own hits and covers of fan-favorite, including leveling up his song “Marley” by injecting it with Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” He also performed his version of “Cover Me Up” by Jason Isbell. Max finished on a high note, performing his hits “Better Me For You (Brown Eyes) and “A Lot More Free” flexing his musicality by whistling into the microphone and whipping out a harmonica.
Ashley Cooke
Ashley Cooke at the Billboard Country Live concert at Category 10 on June 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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The energy in the room became electric as Ashley Cooke took the stage. The audience fed off her spirited set, as she told fans she has registered some of the biggest accomplishments of her career over the past year, from getting her first tour bus to her first award, breakthrough female video of the year at the 2024 CMT Awards for “Your Place.” This year also had some of her lowest lows including the loss of family members and health scares in her circle. The emotional moment teed up her hit “It’s Been A Year.”
For those just getting to know her, she offered to show them who she was through a medley of some of her favorite songs. The audience sang along while Ashley belted out Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”, Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” and “Life Is A Highway” by Tom Cochrane (and Rascal Flatts’ popular remake) . She ended her set asking who in the room had the craziest ex before performing her break-up tune, “Your Place.”
Mitchell Tenpenny
Mitchell Tenpenny at the Billboard Country Live concert at Category 10 on June 05, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Closing out an epic evening of country music is not an easy task, but Mitchell Tenpenny attacked the opportunity armed with an acoustic guitar, giving fans a solo set that had everyone in the house singing along. He commanded the stage with hits like “Bucketlist” and “We Got History” which he said was his version of Rascal Flatt’s “Bless The Broken Road.” He kicked off his set by telling the backstory to “Alcohol You Later” – inspired by a drunken phone call he overheard in a bar – then launched into the song, changing some lyrics in verse two to “need someone to drink Bud Light with,” paying homage to the evening’s presenting sponsor.
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He thanked the audience for the sing-a-long, adding, “Hearing someone sing your song back to you is the greatest feeling in the world.” They even became an integral part of a fan-requested impromptu performance of “Bitches” where they had to sing the title during the chorus because Tenpenny claimed, “I don’t think I can sing that one here.” But the final song of the night was the perfect crescendo to an evening of amazing performances as he launched into an unexpected cover of “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls. The audience was so engrossed in the performance, he did an encore which had everyone swaying with the lights from their phones over their heads. He then spent several minutes signing hats and greeting the adoring fans.
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On Friday (May 30), a new wave of performers was unveiled for Billboard Country Live, coming June 5-6 to Category 10, Luke Combs’ Nashville bar and live music venue. The event will spotlight some of country music’s emerging talent alongside influential industry power players.
The festivities kick off Wednesday, June 4, with an exclusive gathering on the rooftop of Category 10 honoring Billboard’s Country Power Players, a premier event, presented by Bud Light, recognizing the most influential figures shaping the genre today — including Stacy Vee of Goldenvoice/AEG, our 2025 Executive of the Year.
On Thursday, June 5, the excitement continues with a showcase concert presented by Bud Light, which will feature newly announced country hitmaker Mitchell Tenpenny joining a lineup that already includes Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Drew Baldridge, Max McNown and Reyna Roberts. The showcase-style concert inside Category 10 will also include Billboard‘s video lounge, where Major League Baseball will film exclusive interviews with the country stars behind players’ walk-up songs.
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Tenpenny’s history on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart extends back to 2018 and includes three top 10s of eight total hits: 2018’s “Drunk Me” and 2022’s “Truth About Me,” which both peaked at No. 2, and his chart-topping Chris Young duet “At the End of a Bar” in 2021.
The Billboard Country Live celebration extends to Friday, June 6, with a second night of music that will spotlight “Country on the Rise,” shining a light on the genre’s future hitmakers. Featured performers will include Cooper Alan, Graham Barham, Harper Grace, Jake Worthington, Tayler Holder and Timmy McKeever.
Find the full lineups below, and to attend, visit live.billboard.com/country to RSVP.
Billboard Country Live is set to return to Nashville this summer, with the Bud Light-presented, two-day tentpole celebration highlighting rising country stars and industry tastemakers on June 5-6 at venue Category 10 in downtown Nashville.
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The country music celebration will launch on Wednesday, June 4, with an exclusive gathering held on the rooftop of Category 10, honoring Billboard’s Country Power Players and recognizing the most influential executives shaping and leading the country music genre today.
On Thursday, June 5, a showcase concert presented by Bud Light will spotlight rising artists, with live performances from Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Drew Baldridge, Max McNown and Reyna Roberts. Inside Billboard’s video lounge, Major League Baseball will film exclusive interviews with the country stars featured in players’ walk-up songs.
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The celebration will continue Friday, June 6, with a second evening of music that will feature “Country on the Rise,” honoring the future of the genre with a lineup set to be announced in coming weeks.
Each of the artists featured in the showcase concert on June 5 have earned ever-heightening career milestones in recent years. In 2024, Baldridge earned a top five hit on the Country Airplay chart with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter (Reimagined).” Kay, who signed with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville this year, also released her latest single “Cupid’s a Cowgirl.” Cooke earned a No. 2 Country Airplay chart hit with “Your Place” and recently teamed with Joe Jonas on the song “All I Forgot.” McNown broke through with his song “A Lot More Free,” while his song “Better Me for You (Brown Eyes)” cracked the top 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Roberts released her debut album, Bad Girl Bible Vol. 1, in 2023 and last year was featured on the song “Blackbiird” from Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album, as well as providing background vocals on the album’s track “Tyrant.”
Since its origin in 1894, Billboard has become the essential barometer of music success, through its authoritative charts, news, detailed analysis, multi-platform storytelling and multiple events that celebrate artists and various industry sectors. Billboard’s annual events also include the Billboard Power 100, Billboard Women in Music, Billboard Latin Music Week and Billboard Live.
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