Country star Chris Stapleton will perform his song “Watch You Burn” at the ACM Awards tonight, as a tribute to those who died in the Las Vegas shooting in 2017.
Stapleton wrote the song a few years after the mass shooting, which occurred on the Las Vegas strip. To this day, it’s still the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, killing nearly 60 people and injuring over 500 more. The people targeted were attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
As Chris Stapelton takes the stage in Las Vegas for the ACM Awards, he wants to remember and honor those who lost their lives.
“Tomorrow we’ll be performing ‘Watch You Burn,’ which is a song that I wrote with Mike Campbell about the shooting that happened here during the country music festival,” Stapleton told PEOPLE. “So yeah, that’s what we’re doing.”
“Watch You Burn” appeared on “Starting Over,” Stapleton’s 2020 album. This will be its first television debut, though the song’s been out for a while. For his live performance at the ACM Awards, Chris Stapleton will bring in a 16-person choir and “special guest.”
In the opening of the song, Stapleton sings, “Only a coward would pick up a gun/And shoot up a crowd trying to have fun/Now the Vegas lights won’t lose their glow/And the band will play/And go on with the show.”
Chris Stapleton won’t only be at the ACM Awards to perform, though. He also received four nominations. He’s up for Entertainer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year. Stapleton also has a shot at Single of the Year (“You Should Probably Leave”) and Video of the Year (Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)”).
How to Watch Chris Stapleton and Others Perform at the ACM Awards
For the first time ever, the ACM Awards will live stream exclusively on Amazon Prime. There won’t be a broadcast option for those who want to catch it on cable TV. If you don’t already have an Amazon Prime subscription, then you can sign up for the streamer’s 30-day free trial here.
The nice thing about the change is that the awards show will run continuously with no commercial interruptions. That means we get several hours straight of country performances and award announcements.
In addition to Chris Stapleton, you can see Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Eric Church, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan perform. And let’s not forget the iconic Dolly Parton, as well as Carly Pearce, Kelsea Ballerini, and Maren Morris. Check out the full list of performers here.
Make sure you catch the pre-show red carpet event airing on Amazon Prime at 7 p.m. EST. Then, at 8 p.m. EST, the awards show proper will start.
