Eric Church Delivers Fiery Performance At 2021 CMA Awards

“The Chief” took the stage at the 55th annual CMA Awards with his guitar and his signature aviators, rocking his performance of “Heart On Fire” (literally, surrounded by fire).

The song is one of the latest from Eric Church, who recently premiered the music video for the latest single from his Heart & Soul triple album. The shocked CMA crowd cheered as flames burst onto the stage during the former CMA Entertainer of the Year's performance. For “Heart On Fire,” Church debuted a unique mashup of his most iconic videos throughout his career. It's a “rapid-fire trip through a decade-plus of hits – which has included 11 No. 1 songs,” according to a press release.

“When we shot this, it was a real trip down memory lane,” Church said in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the “Heart On Fire” video. He continued, “(It’s) been a long and very wonderful and adventurous road… It was an uplifting — and, in a lot of ways — inspiring thing for me,” especially after the last year and a half. The new, nostalgic music video and its corresponding behind the scenes look released in the midst of Church’s “Gather Again Tour.”

See the list of 2021 CMA Award winners here.