As the gender imbalance issue continues to rattle country music, Little Big Town used its platform at the 54th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday (April 7) to uplift women everywhere. Dressed in all white, the quartet performed its live debut of new single "The Daughters," a heartstring-tugging ballad that blatantly calls out the unfair burdens society often forces young girls to carry. If lyrics like "And pose like a trophy on a shelf/ Dream for everyone but not yourself" weren't emotional enough, a troupe of contemporary dancers rushed to the middle of the stage to bring the song's grappling theme to life.<doc-sep>Little Big Town offered a powerful performance of their new single “The Daughters” at the 54th ACM Awards. Surrounded by an army of choreographed female dancers, Karen Fairchild — singing lead — and her bandmates in LBT shined a light on the expectations placed on young women. “Girl, don’t be weak and don’t be strong, say what you want just as long as you nod your head with your lipstick on/And pose like a trophy on a shelf and dream for everyone but not yourself,” she sang, before delivering a chorus that is sure to tweak the more devout of country music fans. “I’ve heard of God the Son and God the Father/I’m just looking for a God for the daughters.” While the lyrics are empowering and even eviscerating, it was Fairchild’s emotional delivery that made the performance so mesmerizing. As she reached the end, singing about how she loves her son and her father, Fairchild’s voice audibly cracked. Fairchild wrote the song with Sean McConnell and Ashley Ray, and it stands as the first new music from the ACM Award-winning band since last year’s one-off “Summer Fever.” The group released the studio version of the song on Friday.<doc-sep>Little Big Town made some major waves at the 2019 ACM Awards. Band members Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, and Philip Sweet debuted their new single, “The Daughters,” and the performance was very polarizing. Their latest release is a powerful ballad that comments on female empowerment. The chorus includes the following lyrics: “Pose like a trophy on a shelf; dream for everyone but not yourself. I’ve heard of God, the Son and God, the Father, I’m still looking for a God for the daughters.” The video dropped last week, and it starred Little Big Town and an array of young ballerinas. The ladies danced throughout an empty gym while Kimberly and Karen sang. For the ACMs, the band basically replicated their music video. A group of girls performed behind the country music stars as they belted out the tune for the crowd. Karen even choked up at the end of the emotional performance. This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Little Big Town’s ACMs performance was SO powerful. Kevin Winter Most were blown away by “The Daughters,” calling it “so beautiful.” One commented on the importance of the song, writing, “We need voices. We need change. We need equality.” This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. good luck trying to find a more brutally honest and heartbreaking lyric than the main hook on the new little big town song. the stuff dropped my jaw — Carsonhume (@Carsonhume1) April 5, 2019 This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Omg little big town!! That song is so beautiful 😭 #TheDaughters #ACMawards2019 — Kristen Knutson, Esq. (@LawandLilly) April 8, 2019 This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Little Big Town’s “Daughters” is such an important song. Especially right now. We need voices. We need change. We need equality. #ACMawards — ➳Jessica Murski➳ (@JessicaMurski) April 8, 2019 This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Yep. Still haven’t made it through Little Big Town’s “The Daughters” without crying. — Honey Bunches of Nope (@track7grrl) April 5, 2019 Others, however, found the refrain off-putting, with some even suggesting it’s “sacrilegious” or “pandering” for its political and religious undertones. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. I hate to be this person, but Little Big Town's new single feels very sacreligious.. The same God is LORD of both sons and daughters.. I get what they were trying to convery but there were less sacreligous ways to convey it. #notsorry #ACMawards — Allison Thomas  (@AllisonThomasSC) April 8, 2019 This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. God is God for all of us. Little Big Town, please don’t buy into Politically correctness #ACMawards — kathy d (@k16joy26) April 8, 2019 As for what “The Daughters” means to the song’s creators, it’s simple. Speaking to WGNA ahead of the show, Kimberly said: “This song is about daughters and just teaching girls that… believe in yourself and you can do anything. Traditionally, women haven’t had the freedom to do everything maybe that they’ve always dreamed of—but we do.” And as parents themselves, they find it important to share this story. “We’re just really proud of this song and what it says,” Philip said. Megan Stein Megan Stein is the executive editor for The Pioneer Woman, and oversees entertainment, features, and news for the website. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
This was the stand out moment of the night! LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 07: (L-R) Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, and Philip Sweet of Little Big Town perform onstage during the 54th Academy Of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 07, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Little Big Town brought the important message of “The Daughters” into the spotlight at the 2019 ACM Awards. The four-time ACM Group of the Year winners delivered one of the best performances of the night. Between the powerful lyrics that highlight the pressures that society places on women to be everything, LBT brought a team of dancers to support them. Dressed in beautiful pink dresses, the dancers filled the stage, gracefully performing the choreography that captured the stirring nature of the song. Just when you thought @LittleBigTown couldn’t get any more perfect… they sing “The Daughters” on the #ACMawards. pic.twitter.com/Y9Tdwe6TDq — ACM Awards (@ACMawards) April 8, 2019 Karen Fairchild became emotional during the performance, her voice quivering as she sang “I’ve heard of God the Son and God the Father, and damn I love my son, I love my father.” The performance ended with a heartwarming moment, as two of the troupe’s young female dancers clasped hands and bowed in front of the group. The camera panned to show Cam with her hand over her heart at song’s end, while Brandi Carlile was wiping tears from her eyes. “The Daughters” is the first release off Little Big Town’s upcoming album. They released the dancers’ version of the video on Thursday (April 4).