1 of 12
2 of 12
Gretchen Demonbreun
Wynonna and Michael W. Smith
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Kurt Heinecke
Wynonna and Lauren Alaina
4 of 12
Jeremy Westby
5 of 12
Gretchen Demonbreun
The Oak Ridge Boys
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Gretchen Demonbreun
Michael W Smith and Vince Gill
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Gretchen Demonbreun
Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant
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Gretchen Demonbreun
Debbie Smith and Michael W. Smith
9 of 12
Kurt Heinecke
Lee Greenwood, The Gatlin Brothers, and T.Graham Brown
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Kurt Heinecke
Nicole C. Mullen, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Amy Grant
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Kurt Heinecke
Gary LeVox and Brian Littrell
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Kurt Heinecke
Scott Hamilton and Vince Gill
On Tuesday, April 30 Bridgestone Arena became home to a once-in-a-lifetime, star-studded tribute event honoring Michael W. Smith and celebrating his 35 year career and his 35 #1 hits.
The evening was packed with over 3 hours of performances from singers including; Amy Grant, Wynonna, Randy Travis and Steven Curtis Chapman, Jordin Sparks with Jordan Smith, Rascal Flatts, The Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell, Charlie Daniels, the Gatlin Brothers, Vince Gill with Wayne Kirkpatrick, Matthew West, Avalon, The Oak Ridge Boys, CeCe Winans, Francesca Battistelli, Sandi Patty with Natalie Grant, Ricky Skaggs with the Isaacs, Jason Crabb, Lee Greenwood, Mark Lowry, Jim Brickman, T. Graham Brown, and more.
Before the show started, Smith spoke of how he had been kept in the dark about most of the event so he was looking forward to the surprises throughout the night, seeing his songs performed and the rendition that the artists were going to take on them. He stated that
“the beauty of the night is how it has brought so many of us together.”
Kathie Lee Gifford kicked off the night bringing Smith and his wife Deborah out to greet the crowd before they took their seats on stage. Smith didn’t stay seated long as he joined several artists throughout the night on his iconic songs and even some of theirs.
The show closed with all the artists coming back on stage to join-in for Smith’s classic “Friends.”
After playing the piano, Smith embraced the end of the triumphant night moving to the front of the stage to take a bow as his family joined him.