Cody Johnson delivered an emotional performance of his heartfelt song “The Painter” off the recent album Leather, which dropped on November 3. Johnson is also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, along with Chris Stapleton, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, and Morgan Wallen.
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The stage featured a video of his wife, Brandi Johnson, seemingly having her portrait painted on a brick wall. Her painted image featured flowers and greenery as Johnson sang about her, pointing her out in the crowd. The emotional performance ended on Brandi tearing up and smiling at her husband as he took a bow.
Johnson recently released his newest album, Leather, which comes after his 2021 album Human: The Double Album. Johnson exclusively self-released six albums before his major label debut in 2019, and still releases his albums in a joint effort with Warner Nashville and his own label, CoJo Music. His recent project, Leather, is a 12-track classic country endeavor that Johnson feels is his best work yet.
“This round of songs, I have to say, is the best round of songs I have ever recorded and I feel like that’s the way it should be,” Johnson said in a press statement earlier last month. “Each album should outdo the last one.”
His previous album, Human: The Double Album, featured the immediate hit “‘Til You Can’t,” which won Single and Video of the Year at the 2022 CMA Awards, as well as a Grammy that year. Now, he’ll be embarking on a lengthy tour in support of the new album in 2024; he recently added new dates to the sprawling undertaking.
On tour, Johnson has tapped Justin Moore, Chris Janson, Dillon Carmichael, and Drake Milligan for support. He had similar support on the album, which featured collaborations with Jelly Roll for the song “Whiskey Bent,” and with Brooks & Dunn on the song “Long Live Country Music.”
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