Trisha Yearwood took the stage to pay tribute to a music industry legend when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame over the weekend.

Yearwood’s surprise performance stood out as a highlight moment when award-winning record producer Tony Brown became one of the newest members of the Hall of Fame, alongside Kenny Chesney and June Carter Cash. The star-studded Medallion Ceremony took place on Sunday evening (October 19) in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s CMA Theater.

Yearwood delivered a stunning rendition of “Perfect Love,” which she and Brown produced in the late 1990s. The song appeared on the 1997 record, (Songbook) A Collection of Hits, which also included “How Do I Live,” “Walkaway Joe,” “She’s In Love With The Boy,” and more. Yearwood’s husband, fellow country icon and Hall of Fame member Garth Brooks, said in a statement of the performance and the induction ceremony: “It’s the greatest night in country music. Going into the Hall of Fame is overwhelming enough, but to sit among the ranks you’re joining really makes the night the biggest of your career.”

Other artists who took the stage in Brown’s honor include Lyle Lovett (“If I Had a Boat”), Steve Earle (“Guitar Town”) and George Strait (“Troubadour”). Hall of Fame member and singer-songwriter Vince Gill delivered heartfelt remarks and presented Brown with his medallion.

“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,” the Country Music Hall of Fame stated in a press release. “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.”

Brown said when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, in part: “Needless to say, I’ve had some big things happen in my life. This is by far the biggest. For years, everybody thought my life, my career, was defined by playing with Elvis Presley. Now, my career is defined by being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. …I love what I do. I love this business. And I’ve always told everybody in town that the Medallion Ceremony is my favorite event to attend every year. This may be the best one yet.”

Anne Hudson