Country music fans were treated with a huge surprise at the 2025 CMA Fest, when Trace Adkins made a surprise appearance during Blake Shelton’s set.
The audience of nearly 70,000 went wild as the two longtime friends took the stage at Nissan Stadium in Nashville and performed their duet “Hillbilly Bone.” The performance was fun, exciting, and packed with nostalgia.
Adkin's guest appearance also commemorated the 20th anniversary of Adkin's 2005 breakout hit “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” Shelton and Adkins leaned into the anniversary and performed the beloved song live for the audience, which had them out of their seats.
The two buddies not only have chemistry on the album but have been in it together for so long, they both embraced how far they have come in their careers.
This moment was part of a television special for the CMA Fest, which aired on ABC on June 26 and is available to stream now on Hulu, and with big moments like this the special certainly created some buzz at the four-day festival in front of the live audience and from fans watching at home.
I'll cheers to those performances by @blakeshelton and @TraceAdkins!! 🍻#CMAfest presented by @SoFi pic.twitter.com/6FJsndUzPa
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) June 27, 2025
“Badonkadonk” Remixed for a New Generation
To mark 20 years of Trace Adkins' hit "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," Adkins released a brand-new remix of the song earlier this year! This remix features DJs Moonlght and Country.
Night and gives the song an updated spin, with modern beats (while maintaining the charm of the original), and was distributed on major streaming platforms in May of 2025!
According to Adkins, his new take of "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" offers an opportunity for younger listeners to engage with the song while also giving his original fans something new.
It demonstrates how Adkins has changed with evolving music styles, while maintaining the reason he has been a relevant country artist for decades.
The remix is a celebration of the enduring legacy of "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" and a tribute to its place in country music history. The danceable remix will surely make playlists in far reaching areas, even outside of traditional country radio!
This step shows ways for friend of the genre "Long-time" artists like Adkins to create new content for longtime fans as well as entice and excite a new audience for their music.
The remix takes place in an unreproducible space with an endless mix of nostalgia and contemporary sounds blending together in the country genre more than ever!
