Kacey Musgraves has traded the Grand Ole Opry for Barclay’s Center as she made her debut at the Video Music Awards on Sunday night’s telecast.
The country-music queen set the scene with the first-ever live performance of “Star-Crossed,” the title track off of her new studio album. Not only did she set the scene, but she also set the stage ablaze, singing on a candlelit stage, surrounded by glowing candelabras. As the song reached its climax a giant heart was set on fire behind her, leaving Musgraves standing on a stage engulfed in flames.
This marks Musgraves’s first live performance of “Star-Crossed,” following the album’s release on Friday, September 10, along with the documentary Star-Crossed: The Film, which premiered the same day on Paramount+. The visual album featured cameos from various celebrities including Eugene Levy, Princess Nokia, Meg Stalter, and RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 winner Symone.
Her first VMAs performance is just the latest instance where Musgraves’s music is merging the worlds of country and pop, first with her 2018 Grammy award-winning album, Golden Hour, and now with her latest album, Star-Crossed, which expanded her cosmic country sound, and reunited her with her Golden Hour producers, Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian.
The 2021 VMAs are airing live on MTV from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Find the full list of winners right here and keep up with all of the night’s biggest VMA moments!