Scotty McCreery offered an emotional performance of his chart-topping hit “Five More Minutes” during the 52nd anniversary of CMA Fest in Nashville.

Performing from the b-stage in the center of Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, the 31-year-old country superstar connected with over 70,000 fans during a very special, stripped down performance. Wearing a royal blue button-up and jeans, McCreery took to the stage solo with just an acoustic guitar in hand, allowing the spotlight to fall entirely on his voice and the powerful lyrics of the beloved track that resonate with the masses.

Strumming his guitar softly, McCreery poured his heart into the performance, his signature baritone echoing across the packed stadium as fans swayed and sang along to every word. This performance allowed McCreery to showcase his ability to truly captivate an audience with his signature baritone vocals and heartfelt lyrics.

“I get to play it and instead of just me and the whole band like we do every night, it’s just going to be me and my guitar. So that’ll be cool. I mean, you typically do that at a writer’s round with 200 people, not 70,000 people,” he explained ahead of his performance.

“Five More Minutes,” which became McCreery’s first No. 1 single in 2018, was written by McCreery alongside Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell and appears on his fourth studio album, Seasons Change.

Ahead of his performance at CMA Fest, Scotty McCreery opened up about performing at the iconic Nashville country music festival. “It feels so good. I always love coming out here to CMA Fest. It’s just one of the best, if not the best events of the year, country music fans from all over. It’s been a little while since we got to play the stadium, so being here tonight is special, and we have had this circled on the calendar for a while.”

2025 CMA Fest

Dubbed “The Music Event of Summer,” CMA Fest Presented by SoFi featured 30+ performances from some of Country music’s hottest stars, including Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Cody Johnson, Riley Green, Jason Aldean, Trace Adkins, Jordan Davis, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum, Ashley McBryde, Rascal Flatts, The Red Clay Strays, Dylan Scott, Zach Top, Keith Urban and more.

The three-hour broadcast also included unforgettable collaborations from the 2025 CMA Fest. Brooks & Dunn teamed up with Lainey Wilson for “Play Something Country” and with Marcus King for “Rock My World [Little Country Girl],” Dierks Bentley joined forces with Zach Top on “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” and a “Mountain Music” medley, Cody Johnson and Carín León performed “She Hurts Like Tequila,” Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll delivered a powerful performance of “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” Jason Aldean and Travis Tritt united for “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive,” Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins teamed up for  “Hillbilly Bone,” and Bailey Zimmerman and BigXthaPlug showcased their new duet “All The Way” and more.

CMA Fest presented by SoFi was filmed at Nissan Stadium during Music City’s four-day country music festival, which took place Thursday, June 5, through Sunday, June 8. 2025 marked the 19th consecutive year that CMA has produced a summer concert TV special. The show is a production of the Country Music Association, executive produced and written by Robert Deaton and directed by Alan Carter. The 2025 airing marks the 22nd consecutive year CMA has produced a summer concert TV special.

The CMA Fest special aired on Thursday, June 26 at 8/7c on ABC and is available to watch on-demand on Friday, June 27 via Hulu.