On Wednesday night on the Country Music Association Awards, you’ll get to see Justin Bieber join Dan + Shay for the first time ever to perform their smash duet “10,000 Hours.”  The song is up for three trophies at the ceremony, and Dan + Shay say Justin’s pretty stoked about it.

“He’s such a sweet guy. We’re on a group text and he’s always tremendously gracious, he’s very grateful to be having this moment in country music right now,” Dan Smyers tells ABC Audio. “He’s such a fan!”

“It’s crazy to see, man, for all the success that that guy has had, for all his accolades, still down to earth, still humble, just a great guy overall,” Dan adds. “So we’re grateful to know him and glad he was part of the song with us.”

Shay Mooney jokes that it’s been “about ten thousand hours since we put the song out” — actually, it came out in October of 2019 — but either way, the duet has been a long time coming.

“We had grand plans to perform the song on each other’s tours and stuff, but none of that happened this year,” Dan explains.  Justin’s tour, and Dan + Shay’s, were both canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So to get to do it on national television for the first time is a bit nerve-wracking, but it’s going to be amazing,” he adds. “I know [Justin’s] fans are fired up. So are ours. And it’s going to be a good moment for us…the song has accomplished so many cool things, so it’s going to be a bit of a celebration for us.” 

“10,000 Hours” is up for Musical Event, Music Video and Single of the Year at the CMAs, airing Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.