Sam Hunt Wows With Merle Haggard Tribute at All for the Hall Benefit
Sam Hunt paid tribute to the late Merle Haggard with a performance of "The Way I Am" at the 6th annual All For The Hall benefit concert.
Tuesday night (April 12), Country music fans gathered at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for the 6th annual All For The Hall benefit concert.
The show, billed as Mashville: The Music City in 2016, was hosted by Keith Urban and Vince Gill and featured a star-studded lineup of artists, including Luke Bryan, Peter Frampton, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell and many more. Also featured the incredible bill was “Make You Miss Me” singer Sam Hunt.
The Georgia native performed his No.1 track “House Party” as his first of two songs. His second song was a tribute to the late Merle Haggard, who passed away Wednesday, April 6, on his 79th birthday.
He admitted to the audience that he somehow struggles with the success of being an artist and last week, decided to ease his mood by playing some old country songs. The next morning, he called his manager on his way to a writing session to see if he could play Haggard’s “The Way I Am” at the benefit show. He found out just an hour or so later that the legendary singer had died.
“It sent chills up my spine. It gave me this really eerie feeling,” Hunt told the audience. “I hadn’t even thought about Merle or that song until the night before and it was a sad day for country music, but it made me realize how grateful I am to be able to do what I’m doing. It made me realize how grateful I am for Merle Haggard and all these boys on the stage behind me and all the people who have come before me in country music and paved this road that I’m walking on.”
Hunt then went on to perform the song, as seen in the video below. It was one of the many standout performances from last night’s event.
For more from All for the Hall, click HERE.
