Chris Stapleton sat beside his hero Willie Nelson as the 90-year-old country legend was inducted into the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on November 3. Stapleton detailed the memorable moment backstage at the 2023 CMA Awards following his win for Male Vocalist of the Year.
Stapleton also performed at the induction and cited his Rock Hall performance alongside Nelson as “an incredible thing for me” and one of his “favorite musical moments.” The singer vividly recalled the event to American Songwriter and other media during the CMA Awards press conference.
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[RELATED: Willie Nelson Gets Inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame]
“That was an incredible thing for me to get the call from Willie to come help be a part of inducting him into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Stapleton said. “There was a moment that I had when we were seated on stage. Dave Matthews was giving a speech and inducting Willie going over his whole life and this is 90 years of Willie Nelson so there’s a lot to go over.
“Then he walked over and handed Willie the trophy to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and I’m still sitting here next to Willie Nelson,” Stapleton recalled. “And then Willie goes on to give a speech about his life, his career. Then he leans over to me and he goes, ‘Alright, what song we playing first?’ I go, ‘Whiskey River’ and then we dove into it. It was one of my favorite musical moments maybe that I’ve ever had in my life, to just sit there.”
[RELATED: 6 Songs Willie Nelson Wrote That Were Made Famous by Other Artists]
Stapleton added that the gravity of the moment didn’t hit him for a while. Days later, at the CMA Awards on November 8, he reflected on the induction.
“To know that I was sitting there and the songs were behind him, it was just a wonderful moment to get to be a fly on the wall sort of sitting there experiencing that beside Willie Nelson who’s obviously a huge influence the hero of mine,” he concluded.
At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, Nelson was joined by his band with Stapleton to perform his 1973 song “Whiskey River.” Fellow inductee Sheryl Crow later joined in for Wilson’s 1961 hit “Crazy” before Matthews collaborated to perform “On the Road Again.”
Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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