During the 11 years that they shared hosting duties at the CMA Awards, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood practically became the awards show’s prom king and queen: Their rapport, chemistry and ever-dazzling costume changes made them a fan-favorite, year after year.
The two stars haven’t co-hosted since the 2018 show, but Paisley says he’d jump at the chance to do it all over again — and it doesn’t need to be at a CMA Awards show, either.
“I would host anything with Carrie that they want us to host,” the singer says on a recent TODAY segment. “We could host a bar mitzvah. I mean, honestly, you name it.”
Turns out, it’s not just the fans who noticed a special onstage magnetism between these two: Paisley says his working relationship with Underwood was truly something special from the inside, too.
“We have a chemistry and an ability, I think, to become better than either one of us are — in a hosting capacity — alone,” the singer continues. “So yeah, line us up. Birthdays. Lions Club luncheons. You name it. We’ll host anything.”
Paisley hasn’t hosted the CMA Awards since his most recent show with Underwood in 2018, and she stayed another year, co-hosting the awards show with Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire in 2019. McEntire co-hosted the 2020 show with Darius Rucker, and Luke Bryan emceed the event solo in 2021, marking the first time any entertainer had done so since Vince Gill‘s solo hosting gig in 2003.
Bryan’s been a CMA Awards fixture ever since. He brought NFL legend Peyton Manning to co-host the show with him in 2022, and in May, the Country Music Association announced that Bryan and Manning will be back to host the CMA Awards in 2023.
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