Photo: Dana Pacifico
Kane Brown is known for pushing boundaries with his music, and he performed some of his best cross-genre songs at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball presented by Capital One in New York City on Friday (December 10).
The country artist kicked off his set with his blackbear collaboration that released over the summer. He teased “Memory” on his social media channels before releasing the track in July, and he and blackbear released the track that’s bound to get stuck in your head every time it plays: “I wanna live life fast, I don't know how to slow down/ I wanna get high, I don't know how to come down/ Help me now, I'm on runnin' on empty/ And I don't wanna be a memory”
The “One Mississippi” singer kept the night going with “One Thing Right,” his 2019 collaboration with EDM artist Marshmello. Brown co-wrote the single that recognizes getting “one thing right” (looking at you, Katelyn, Brown’s wife since 2018) amid bad-boy habits that made him “the kind of guy girls’ mommas don’t like.” Brown capped off his iHeartRadio Jingle Ball performance with “Be Like That,” the 2020 hit that Brown recorded with Swae Lee and Khalid. Brown’s single with the rapper and R&B artist quickly became the No. 1 most-added song following its release, with a highly-anticipated music video.
Brown’s music stands out so much that he was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2021. He and Dolly Parton were the two country artists to make the list. Darius Rucker applauded Brown’s border-pushing style when Time unveiled its list, writing in a statement: “I’m sure there are kids looking up to Kane right now just like when I looked up at Charley Pride…Kane is setting the bar so high for the next generation. I hope kids see him and now think, ‘I can do that.’”
Relive the best moments from this year's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball during a nationwide television special on Wednesday, December 15th at 8pm ET/PT on The CW Network, which will also air again on Christmas Day, Saturday, December 25th at 8pm ET/PT.