iHeartCountry Festival
Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX
May 5, 2018
Photography by Michael Mullenix
The 2018 iHeartCountry Festival came back to Austin, TX for the fifth straight year. Billed as the ultimate celebration of country music, many of country’s biggest superstars took the stage at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas On Saturday, May 5.
Hosted by Bobby Bones and Candace Cameron Bure, this year’s show included performances from superstar country artists like Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dustin Lynch, Cole Swindell, Maren Morris, Sugarland, Luke Combs, Billy Currington, Dan + Shay, Jon Pardi and Brett Young. Each performance was punctuated with a surprise including:
- A special appearance by Gavin McGraw who performed “Soldier” with Brett Young.
- Maren Morris, decked out in a Texas Longhorn jersey, joined Keith Urban, singing the Miranda Lambert part of “We Were Us”
- Cole Swindell joined Luke Bryan during “Roller Coaster”
- Dan + Shay brought out Danielle Bradbery to sing with them during “How Not To”
- Eleven-year-old yodeling sensation Mason Ramsey performed Hank Williams’s “Lovesick Blues” as well as his recently released debut single “Famous.”
- Scotty McCreery gave a surprise performance of his new single “Five More Minutes”
- Bobby Bones joined Sugarland for “Stuck Like Glue”
- Luke Bryan came out for a surprise duet with Billy Currington
Earlier in the day, the Daytime Village took place in the North Box Office Plaza. The free daytime event featured live performances by Luke Combs, Brett Young, Lauren Alaina, Dylan Scott and Danielle Bradbery.