Scotty McCreery Joining ‘CMA Country Christmas’ Special

Scotty McCreery

CMT / YouTube Scotty McCreery

The Christmas season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with music?

The Country Music Association announced the lineup for the 13th iteration of their annual “CMA Country Christmas” special, which comes to ABC on Thursday, December 8, and can be streamed the next day on Hulu and Disney+, and the lineup includes “American Idol” season 10 first-place finisher and country singer Scotty McCreery.

McCreery joins this year’s host Carly Pearce along with country stars Steven Curtis Chapman, Dan + Shay, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Molly Tuttle, and The War And Treaty to bring viewers a night of Christmas cheer for the broadcast, which was filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, which is the perfect setting given its nickname as the “Country Music Capital of the World”. It remains unclear at this time what song(s) McCreery will be performing.


Scotty McCreery is Not the First ‘Idol’ Star to Appear in the Special

Plenty of past “American Idol” stars have appeared in the “CMA Country Christmas” special before, including Scotty McCreery himself.

This year marks McCreery’s third time participating in the special, the first coming in 2011, months after he first won season 10 of “American Idol”, where he sang “The First Noel”, which he later released as a single. McCreery’s runner-up that season, Lauren Alaina, also performed in 2011 special. McCreery came back the next year, after releasing his Christmas album “Christmas with Scotty McCreery”, and performed “Winter Wonderland”.

Other “Idol” alum who have graced the “CMA Country Christmas” stage include Carrie Underwood, Kelly Pickler, and Gabby Barrett, along with current “Idol” judge Luke Bryan.


Scotty McCreery Released a New Music Video About His Fatherhood Journey

Scotty McCreery has had quite a busy year. In addition to working on music and promoting his late-2021 album “Same Truck”, McCreery became a father. McCreery and his wife Gabi welcomed their first child, a son named Avery, and brought him home last month.

After a few weeks as a father, Scotty released a new music video to his 2021 song “It Matters to Her”, which shows his and Gabi’s journey to becoming parents. The video tells the story through a scrapbook, with pages for Gabi’s first pregnancy test, the first ultrasound appointment, building furniture for Avery’s nursery, and the two playing Scotty’s album for Avery by holding up headphones to Gabi’s baby belly. The video ends with some of baby Avery’s first photos in the hospital room. The video clarifies that Avery’s full name is Merrick Avery McCreery, but in social media posts, Scotty and Gabi refer to him by his middle name.

Scotty first teased the video on Instagram earlier in the week, writing, “👨‍👩‍👦 “It Matters To Her” took on a different meaning this past year. The official music video will premiere Monday on @People! Here’s just a taste😉 Can’t wait for y’all to see it!!!”.

Other new parents understood what Scotty meant when he said the song, which talks about doing little and big things for one’s partner, as she will notice and appreciate them. One fan wrote on YouTube, “My pregnant wife and I saw you at Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte last year! We love this song and especially this precious video! Our daughter is now 9 months old, and she’ll be raised on a heavy dose of Scotty McCreery songs.”

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