Carrie Underwood did more than just move fans to tears on Sunday night.
The beloved solo artist moved herself to tears as well.
Donning tear-shaped glitter makeup below her eyes, the former American Idol champion delivered an emotional performance her new single “Cry Pretty” at the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.
She received a standing ovation at the end of the rendition because it was the first time she took to a stage since a horrific fall back in November.
As Underwood admitted in a subsequent social media post at the time, this fall resulted in over 40 stitches to her face.
The superstar even confessed late last year that she was frightened to show her face again in public.
"When I am ready to get in front of a camera, I want you all to understand why I might look a bit different," Underwood wrote candidly, adding last week that her face is "healing well" and:
"I definitely feel more like myself than I have in a while."
We were very glad to hear this.
And then even more glad to see Underwood back in amazing action at the ACM Awards.
Moments after earning her ovation and fighting back years, the American Idol alum and Keith Urban returned to the stage to accept the award for vocal event of the year for their duet “The Fighter.”
“Thank you for having me,” Underwood told her fellow artist through tears. “I’m still shaking right now. Thank you.”
Underwood donned a sparkly silver-and-black frock and didn’t miss a single beat as she belted out her beautiful power ballad last night.
The lyrics of the track are all about vulnerability and overcoming adversity and they allude to her traumatic injury.
“The title refers to when emotions take over and you just can’t hold them back,” Underwood explained in a letter to fans about the single after she released a recorded version of “Cry Pretty” earlier this week.
She added:
“It really speaks to a lot of things that have happened in the past year and I hope when you hear it, you can relate those feelings to those times in your life.
"It’s emotional. It’s real. And it ROCKS!”
YOU rock, Carrie.
Watch clips from the emotional stage return below!
