The 2018 Country Music Awards began with Garth Brooks asking the sold-out crowd to join him in a moment of silence for the victims of last week's Thousand Oaks mass shoot,

Then Luke Bryan kicked off in his song "What Makes You Country" with some of his friends, including Luke Combs, Cole Swindell, Lindsay Ell, Chris Janson, Ashley McBryde and Jon Pardi.

"Let's do what we do and be proud of what makes our country tonight," said 42-year-old Bryan.

"When we started talking about this performance, I thought the moment would be ideal to share the stage with some deserving artists who might not have the opportunity to be part of the series," he said. Bryan said in a press release issued Monday. "This genre is filled with talented artists who do what makes them country and it's the perfect song to let them go into the limelight and be seen and heard by the millions who listen to them."

Bryan is nominated for the most prestigious award of the evening, the Artist 's Award of the Year.

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