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Carrie Underwood kicked her high-energy tour up a notch during her Nashville stop on Wednesday night (March 1). The powerhouse country hitmaker introduced surprise guest Jason Aldean, teaming up for a live rendition of their smash-hit heartbreak ballad, “If I Didn’t Love You.”
Underwood’s show at Bridgestone Arena was part of her ongoing “Denim & Rhinestones Tour,” in support of her latest 12-track project of the same name. Denim & Rhinestones includes “Ghost Story,” “Hate My Heart,” “Pink Champagne,” “Velvet Heartbreak,” “Crazy Angels,” and other fan-favorite anthems, Underwood joined Aldean on “If I Didn’t Love You,” which appeared on the first installment of his 30-track double album, Macon, serving as a nod to his hometown, in 2021 (Aldean’s second installment, Georgia, released in April 2022).
“If I didn't love you, I'd be good by now/ I’d be better than barely getting by somehow/ Yeah, it would be easy not to miss you/ Wonder about who's with you/ Turn the ‘want you’ off whenever I want to/ If I didn't love you/ If I didn't love you”
“We were pretty close to finishing up this album, but this song came in and we knew we had to record it,” Aldean said in a statement when the single made its debut. “I went ahead and put my vocals down while we asked Carrie in the meantime. Luckily she loved the song and it was kind of like a rocket from there. She did her thing like only Carrie can...and I don’t know how, but she made it sound even better than what we expected. It's a really special song to start this album.”
Since releasing the collaboration, Aldean and Underwood have joined forces to perform it live at the Country Music Association Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards and more. Aldean posted a photo from the epic Bridgestone Arena performance on Instagram on Thursday (March 2), writing in his caption, “Nothing like a hometown crowd!”