Maren Morris Brings ‘The Bones’ to the 2020 CMA Awards
Maren Morris delivered a powerful performance of her cross-genre hit, "The Bones," on the stage of the 2020 CMA Awards on Wednesday night (Nov. 11). The song comes off her 2019 studio album, Girl, and hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in March.
The live run-through came during the final hour of the CMAs broadcast, but the song itself had already proven to be a big winner during the ceremony. By the time she took the stage, "The Bones" had nabbed Morris both Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2020 ceremony.
Though "The Bones" began as a bit of a slow burner for Morris, the song has demonstrated serious staying power as a hit. Since its release, it has crossed over onto pop and Adult Contemporary charts, and it ultimately became the singer's highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100.
In addition to performing at Wednesday night's show, Morris was nominated in an impressive five categories at the 2020 CMA Awards. Three of those mentions are for "The Bones," in the categories of Song, Single and Musical Event of the Year (the latter is for her crossover duet performance of the song with singer-songwriter Hozier).
She was also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, a category that she's been included in every year since 2016. Her win on Wednesday night marked her first time ever winning the title.
In September, the singer was named the ACM's 2020 Female Artist of the Year. It's been an eventful year for Morris in her personal life, too: She and her husband Ryan Hurd welcomed their first child in March of this year.
Morris' experience of becoming a mom and living life with her young son, Hayes, has informed her creative process in recent months. In early October, she released "Better Than We Found It," a song that calls for taking responsibility for affecting positive change in the world. The song's music video features a cameo from the singer's infant son, and she reads aloud a letter that she wrote to him, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and the social upheaval and civil rights protests that have taken place in 2020.