The New Artist of the Year nominee covered Ben E. King’s 1961 song on just his acoustic guitar<\/p>\n
\n\tStephen Wilson Jr.<\/a> made his CMA Awards<\/a> performance debut on Wednesday night, mesmerizing the crowd with his inventive rendering of \u201cStand by Me,\u201d<\/a> Ben E. King\u2019s 1961 hymn that was later recorded by John Lennon in 1975.<\/p>\n \n\tWilson\u2019s performance of \u201cStand by Me\u201d comes a year after his version of the song went viral following an appearance on the online series Live at the Print Shop. Wilson released that recording soon after.<\/p>\n \n\tOnstage at the CMAs, the Indiana native, boxer, and onetime microbiologist sang the song solo, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. It was a revelatory performance, hushing the crowd at Nashville\u2019s Bridgestone Arena and bringing peers like Brothers Osborne to their feet. <\/p>\n \n\tWilson does double duty at this year\u2019s CMA Awards. Along with \u201cStand by Me,\u201d he reteams with Shaboozey<\/a> to perform their collaboration \u201cTook a Walk.\u201d <\/a>The evocative song was written and recorded for The Long Walk, a feature film adaptation of Stephen King novel that premiered in theaters last September. Both Wilson and Shaboozey are nominated for the CMA for New Artist of the Year.<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n