Keith Urban Subbed in for Hospitalized Vince Gill During 2018 CMA Ricky Skaggs Tribute
Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs offered up a performance of his most memorable hits at the 2018 CMA Awards, and he had a little help from his friends: Many country and bluegrass performers teamed with Skaggs onstage, including Keith Urban for a rendition of "Highway 40 Blues," but Skaggs explained backstage after his appearance that Urban actually wasn't originally scheduled to appear alongside him.
"To have Keith Urban here to sing "Highway 40" with me -- we've done that at the Opry, but not here," Skaggs relates, describing the rush of being onstage. "He was sitting in for Vince Gill, who couldn't make it because of a little sickness."
In fact, Gill was noticeably absent from the ceremony on Wednesday evening (Nov. 14), despite being slotted to join in the bluegrass fun alongside Skaggs as well as other bluegrass greats such as Sierra Hull. According to Classic Country Music, Gill had been hospitalized earlier in the day due to a kidney stone, and Urban as well as John Osborne of the Brothers Osborne had stepped in to help complete Skaggs' performance.
Fortunately, Gill will be just fine, and in fact, Osborne joked that he was excited for the chance to join in on a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with Skaggs. "So, Vince Gill's kidney stone was the best thing that's ever happened to me!" he told Classic Country Music prior to the show.
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