Much has been said of Taylor Swift leaving her country roots behind — first she was country, then crossover, and with the release of 1989, Swift went full into pop diva territory. But that doesn’t mean that she’s forgotten all about the industry that made her. Taylor Swift presented the Entertainer Of The Year Award to Garth Brooks At the 2016 CMAs and paid homage to her country start.
It wasn’t known that Swift would even appear at the CMAs until midway through the ceremony when co-host Brad Paisley announced that she would be presenting the evening’s final award. This year is the 50th year of the CMAs, so I guess that as many big country stars wanted to come, pay their respects, and thank the industry that has been so good to them over the years. Swift was spotted in Nashville the day of the show, so there was a little hint there (she does live there, but she could be literally anywhere in the world if she wanted to be). It was fitting that Swift got to present Entertainer Of The Year — the biggest award of the night — to Garth Brooks, who is a country legend in his own right.
What does an appearance at the 2016 CMAs mean for Taylor Swift? Maybe her next album will have a little bit of a country twang to it once again — after all, Lady Gaga just did it. Maybe she just wanted to show up because Beyoncé performed at the CMAs and Swift felt left out. Or maybe Swift just wanted to put on a nice dress and say hi to her friends in the country genre. In any case, it was good to see her back on the country stage.
Images: Giphy
