George Strait made a surprise appearance to honor one of the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees.

Kenny Chesney, June Carter Cash and Tony Brown became the 156th, 157th and 158th members of the Hall of Fame during the Medallion Ceremony, which took place Sunday evening (October 19) in the museum’s CMA Theater in Nashville, Tennessee. Brown, an award-winning record producer, was inducted in the Non-Performer category.

Strait took the stage to honor Brown with a rendition of “Troubadour.” The pair produced Strait’s record by the same name. The performance followed Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat,” Steve Earle’s sang “Guitar Town” and Trisha Yearwood’s with “Perfect Love.” Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill delivered heartfelt remarks and presented Brown with his medallion when he was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“Born in North Carolina and schooled as a keyboard player in the topnotch road bands of Elvis Presley and Emmylou Harris, Tony Brown became a key record executive in shaping the sound of modern country music,” reads a press release issued by the Country Music Hall of Fame after Sunday evening’s ceremony. “As a record producer, he supervised many best-selling recordings by Country Music Hall of Fame members Vince Gill, Wynonna Judd, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Marty Stuart and others. As a label executive and talent scout at MCA Records, he also brought daring, outsider talents into mainstream country music, including Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett, The Mavericks and Kelly Willis.”

Find more about the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame induction here.

Brooke Taylor