Lady Antebellum Bring ‘Champagne Night’ to ‘The Tonight Show’

Lady Antebellum hit the late-night circuit from home on Monday, performing their new single, “Champagne Night,” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The trio used some green screen magic to transport audiences to a tropical locale, though band members Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood each performed from the respective homes. Haywood kicked things off with a tiny pad he was wearing before strumming a guitar as Scott joined in, snapping her fingers to turn the screens behind each member from green to beach.

As Kelley joined in and harmonized with Scott throughout the song, which is all about having champagne-level fun on a beer-level budget in the country, the background rotated through different scenes, including a flowering meadow, downtown Nashville, a packed concert and even a marquee for The Tonight Show. As the trio ended the song, the background fell away to reveal Scott sitting in front of her green screen and shaking a plastic tambourine while Kelley held up a small plastic guitar, and Haywood chimed a tiny triangle. “Cut,” Scott joked at the end of the clip.

“Champagne Night” was the winning song from Lady Antebellum’s episode of Songland, which aired in April. The trio shipped the song to country radio soon after the episode aired, making it the first song from the series to be used as a single by the artist it was written for. “Y’all saw how much goes into the songwriting process on @NBCSongland and what it takes to produce just one song…and we absolutely loved how ‘Champagne Night’ came together and hope you do too!!” Lady Antebellum wrote on Instagram announcing the song’s release.

“Champagne Night” was written by Songland contestant Madeline Merlo with mentor Shane McAnally and the band. “They were unbelievable. They were so, so sweet,” Merlo told PopCulture.com of Scott, Kelley and Haywood. “All three of them are songwriters as well too, so presenting the song was super nerve-wracking. Immediately you see all three of them start to get to work, and there’s a moment where the three of them just bust out in perfect harmony singing, and I’m about to cry, and it’s so insane. But they were so kind. And then recently they decided to take ‘Champagne Night’ to radio, which is insane because no song from Songland has done that. And the way that they kind of announced that is they did it on Zoom with me, and they allowed me to be a part of that. They didn’t need to do that, but they really made me feel like such a part of the crew in that moment. And it was one of the happiest, most beautiful moments in my life, them letting me know that huge news.”