Luke Bryan had an unforgettable night on Tuesday, Oct. 22. While at the Grand Ole Opry to officially “flip the switch” to turn the venue pink to help raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer, he was unexpectedly presented with the ACM Award for Album of the Decade for Crash My Party. The record, his fourth, was released in 2013, and featured seven No. 1 singles, including the title track, “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Roller Coaster.”
“Crash My Party was such a life changing album for us,” Bryan said when accepting the honor. “We didn’t know it at the time, we were just loving making music for you guys. It blew my mind the love and support we had from the fans. It’s so fun getting to do this. Thank you to my producer Jeff [Stevens] and my record label and management for sharing this experience with me tonight!”
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Bryan was honored to be the one to turn the Grand Ole Opry pink, especially since he hadn’t been at the historic stage in a while.
“First of all, it’s been way too long since I’ve been on the Opry stage,” Bryan shared with PopCulture.com and other media. “I’ll tell you, I will get so busy and then I’ll ask my manager, ‘We did the Opry like nine months ago?’ and she’s like, ‘No, it was three and a half years ago,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we got to get to the Opry.’
“So getting to the Opry’s always on my mind,” he continued. “But when we had the opportunity to certainly partner up with Opry Goes Pink and the Opry obviously doing breast cancer awareness, I was like, ‘Heck yeah, let’s do it.’ And for years I have wanted to.”
Bryan wrapped up his Sunset Repeat Tour, marking his seventh major tour. And every time he takes the stage, he’s always thrilled to see those battling cancer and cancer survivors in the crowd.
“The big thing that I always notice is the fans at my concerts that have the signs up,” said the singer. “They have a pink sign, ‘Last chemo treatment today’, ‘Beating breast cancer,’ and that always is something – that visual is always something that I leave the show with.”
Bryan just celebrated his 23rd No. 1 with “Knockin’ Boots.” He is currently hard at work on a new album.
Photo Credit: Getty / Jason Kempin
