On a night when country music was shining bright, Carrie Underwood took that spotlight to another level. They country superstar stepped onto the Grand Ole Opry stage to perform the song “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” from her recently released gospel album My Savior.
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If Underwood’s power vocals weren’t enough, the Oklahoma native invited gospel legend CeCe Winans to join her for the 56th Annual ACM Awards performance. Winans also lent her voice to the song on Underwood’s album.
Carrie kicked off the performance on the Opry stage with a few lines from “Amazing Grace” before introducing Winans to join her on “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness / Morning by morning new mercies I see / All I have needed Thy hand hath provided / Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me, they sang, each taking a line.
Following the duet, Underwood broke into the gospel classic “How Great Thou Art,” in front of a stage set with stained glass windows, clearly stealing the show with her angelic and dynamic vocals.
Underwood recently shared her take on her new album My Savior, with American Songwriter, saying “My Savior is an album I have wanted to make since the beginning of my career. This is legacy stuff to me. I love each and every album that I’ve ever had the pleasure of making—the songs that I’ve written and the songs that I’ve sang and performed but I feel like at the heart of it all is an album like this one.”
She went on talk about the song “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and singing with Winans.
“For me, this song is similar to “How Great Thou Art” because it builds to something so powerful, but it doesn’t start out that way. It’s a song I feel like I’ve been singing my whole life,” Underwood shares. “It is so dynamic and true—God has given us so much and every single day we can look around and just see new gifts that God has given to us.
“CeCe Winans and I have crossed paths at various times throughout my career and I’ve always admired her. She recorded ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness’ in the past, and I’m so glad that she was willing to come in and record it with me now. She literally came in as we were putting the finishing touches on this album. And by finishing touches, I mean she was the giant sprinkles and cherry and whipped cream on top,” Underwood continued. “CeCe is legendary, not just in the gospel world but in the world of music and I was honored that she said yes, she just sounds magical. I loved this song before, but this takes it to a whole new level for me.”
Photo by Jeremy Cowart
