Chris Stapleton took home four awards at the 2024 ACM Awards Thursday night (May 16), but he may as well have won a fifth: best-kept secret, which he unofficially earned for his surprise duet with Dua Lipa during the ceremony.
Viewers were shocked to see the pop star take the stage with the country crooner at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, with the pair teaming up for a reimagined version of his “Think I’m in Love With You” midway through the show. (Sources onsite told Billboard that the pair is planning to release a collaboration together in the future, but neither musician has publicly confirmed the news.)
After the performance, Stapleton revealed on the Winner’s Walk carpet that he was almost equally surprised to see the duet materialize, telling Billboard‘s Melinda Newman that it came together in as little as two days.
“[Lipa] contacted the ACMs, and the ACMs contacted us,” he said, noting the “Houdini” singer’s dedication to making the partnership happen. “She’s very busy promoting her own record [Radical Optimism] right now. We kind of created this thing together in the last two days.”
Lipa also opened up to Billboard about the performance after the show, which was produced by Dick Clark Productions. “Lots of zip-up hoodies and running in and out of the arena [were involved],” she told reporter Lyndsey Havens of how she kept her appearance under wraps. “We were all so in on making sure that this stays a surprise to make the moment even more special. I don’t know how we did it, I’m glad we did it because it’s really special when it happened tonight on stage.”
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In addition to performing, Stapleton also won male artist of the year, artist-songwriter of the year and album of the year for his 2023 record Higher at the ACMs. When Billboard asked him and his wife/collaborator Morgane which pop artist the country star would like to work with next, he replied, “I’d always say someone like Paul McCartney.”
He then added, “Harry Styles. [Morgane has] mentioned [him] a few times.”
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