The outdoor stages at any CMT Music Awards are always among the most coveted places to headline.
The bright neon of Nashville’s Lower Broadway is the perfect backdrop for any act performing for the thousands of adoring fans that crowd the street just to get social media evidence that they were there.
That was the case when reigning duo video of the year winners Dan + Shay headlined their own plus sign on the infamous honky-tonk strip. Phone screens waved and glowed in the air to capture Shay Mooney and Dan Smyers in action while they performed “All to Myself.”
“This all so crazy, man,” Mooney said after they won duo video of the year for “Speechless.” “I remember Dan [Smyers] and I coming to these awards, I think we snuck in a couple times. I just want to thank God for the opportunity to be able to be up here and to be able to wake up next to the real stars of the video: our wives Hannah and Abby. We are so thankful to be standing here on this stage.”
When Smyers had the spotlight, he made it all about the fans. “Thank you so much,” he said. “We love you, we love you, we love you.”
