Morgan Wallen's big surprise: Eric Church at Neyland Stadium! What did they perform?
Morgan Wallen rocked Knoxville on his first of two nights at Neyland Stadium, with the help of roughly 80,000 fans singing to his chart-topping songs and with surprise guest Eric Church alongside him during an intimate B-stage performance halfway through the two-hour concert.
“One of the very first concerts I saw was Mr. Eric Church … when he was at Thompson-Boling Arena in 2014,” Wallen shared with the Sept. 20 crowd. “I decided that day I wanted to sing country music. So, I wouldn't be here if it wasn’t for you, brother.”
Since that concert in 2014, Wallen said Church has become one of his good friends.
“So sorry about that,” he said to Church before the two performed “Quittin’ Time,” a song co-written by Church from Wallen’s sophomore record, “Dangerous: The Double Album." Wallen said they last played the song together roughly two years back.
This time, however, the song was performed from a secondary stage near the opposite end zone. Wallen and his band kicked off the stripped-down set of songs with his version of Jason Isbell's "Cover Me Up."
Church was not the first surprise guest of the evening. Fifteen-year-old mandolin prodigy Wyatt Ellis of Maryville, Tennessee, joined opening act Ernest on stage for the first set of the evening and had his moment to shine during their cover of "Family Tradition" by Hank Williams Jr.
Ernest was followed by HARDY, and both will be back Sept. 22 for Wallen's second night at Neyland Stadium.
Could Eric Church perform a different song with Wallen on Night 2?
The most recent collaboration between Church and Wallen came via "Man Made a Bar" from the latter's 2023 album, "One Thing at a Time," which gave the name to his "One Night At A Time" tour.
The song debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was performed by the duo in April during Wallen's set at the Stagecoach country music festival and at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards last year.
Eric Church was a huge surprise for night one. Just who might be the surprise for night two? Keep those fingers crossed for Post Malone!
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email [email protected]. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Eric Church joins Morgan Wallen concert at Knoxville's Neyland Stadium
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