Performances Dazzle in Tributes to Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, and George Strait on ACM Honors Show

Tears flow for Reba McEntire and Kelsea Ballerini. Maren Morris delivers a moving – and gender-bending – reading of a Glen Campbell classic. And Chris Janson runs on super octane performing one of rock’s quirkiest songs.

The ACM Honors awards show holds no suspense: The winners have already been announced. But the show, which airs Friday on CBS, is packed with emotional power and musical highs. The 11th annual show, which was taped Aug. 23 in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, pays tribute to specific achievements in country music, and a stellar lineup has shown up for the celebration.

The salute to McEntire kicks off the evening with Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott soloing on “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.” Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild joins Scott for “Does He Love You,” the Grammy-winning duet that McEntire recorded with Scott’s mother, Linda Davis – and Scott proudly takes her mom’s part. Fairchild’s LBT partner Kimberly Schlapman then joins the two for “Little Rock,” with harmonies that leave one wondering if a side project should be in order (Lady Big Town, anyone?).

McEntire’s service award is named in honor of the late Mae Boren Axton, the “Heartbreak Hotel” songwriter who also was a friend of the singer’s, and McEntire tears up as she recalls the fellow Oklahoman’s impact on her life. Ballerini, too, becomes so overwhelmed as she receives her award for career achievement that she has to stop and turn her back to cameras to compose herself.

Ballerini sings her own tribute, turning in a medley of her hits, as well as a wistful reading of new single, “Legends,” backed by co-writers Hillary Lindsey and Forest Glen Whitehead. Toby Keith, the recipient of the Poet’s Award, also does his own singing duties with hits “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and “Who’s Your Daddy?”

Chris Janson pays homage to the late songwriter Shel Silverstein, dazzling with a country reading of the 1972 rock hit “Cover of the Rolling Stone” and firing up the crowd with ecstatic harmonica play. (Janson was equally incendiary on the Silverstein-penned “A Boy Named Sue” – alas, a casualty in the editing room.)

To honor Dolly Parton’s philanthropic work, Brad Paisley gives a warmhearted reading to Parton’s “Tennessee Mountain Home.”

Glen Campbell earned a lengthy tribute at last year’s event, but his recent death called for renewed remembrance, and so an encore was in order: The memorable 2016 medley of Campbell hits – performed by Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, and Toby Keith – is replayed in total on the show. ACM New Female Artist of the Year Maren Morris adds her testimony with a haunting “Galveston.” Written at the height of the Vietnam war, the Jimmy Webb composition is about a soldier’s longing, and Morris poignantly elects to keep the masculine lyrics intact.

Thomas Rhett is tapped to honor legendary radio personality Bob Kingsley, who also receives the Mae Boren Axton Award for service. Thomas Rhett’s tribute includes a medley of two No. 1 hits, “Die a Happy Man” and “Craving You” (though duet partner Morris sits this one out).

Little Big Town turns in a soulful performance of “When Someone Stops Loving You,” for Songwriter of the Year Lori McKenna, who co-wrote the new LBT single.

The evening is capped with a mainline shot of Strait-up country as steel guitar and fiddle take charge to honor King George. Chris Stapleton goes full throttle on Strait’s “When Did You Stop Loving Me,” and then2017 Hall of Fame inductee Alan Jackson cranks up the twang with a medley of “Marina Del Rey” and “The Fireman.”

After accepting the Cliffie Stone Icon Award, Strait draws some of the loudest cheers of the evening when he picks up his guitar, signaling he’ll deliver the finale himself. His song pick is sure to reflect TV viewers’ experience: “Here For a Good Time.”

The two-hour show airs at 9 p.m. EDT Friday on CBS.