On November 20, 2024, Ashley McBryde walked onto the CMA Awards stage in Nashville carrying an acoustic guitar. There was no band beside Ashley McBryde, no elaborate production, and no need for a lengthy introduction.
Behind Ashley McBryde, photographs of Kris Kristofferson appeared on a large screen. The legendary songwriter had died just 53 days earlier, on September 28, at age 88.
As Ashley McBryde began singing Help Me Make It Through the Night, few television viewers knew just how far back the connection between Ashley McBryde and that song reached.
It began years before Nashville knew Ashley McBryde’s name, with a father teaching a little girl to play guitar.
The Song Ashley McBryde Learned Before She Could Hold a Guitar
Ashley McBryde grew up in Arkansas, in a household where music was part of everyday life. Ashley McBryde’s father particularly admired Kris Kristofferson, whose songwriting stood alongside the work of artists such as John Prine and Guy Clark.
One of the songs Ashley McBryde’s father taught was Help Me Make It Through the Night.
In an interview with Billboard before the 2024 CMA Awards, Ashley McBryde recalled being so small that holding a guitar properly was still difficult.
Yet the song stayed with Ashley McBryde. And it wasn’t simply the melody that made such a lasting impression.
The Lyric That Changed How Ashley McBryde Heard Music
Ashley McBryde was raised in a strict religious household. That made certain Kris Kristofferson lyrics especially surprising to hear coming from Ashley McBryde’s father.
One phrase in particular remained with Ashley McBryde:
“Tonight I need a friend.”
In the song, that simple admission comes alongside a willingness to stop worrying about tomorrow and acknowledge a need for companionship in the present.
For a young Ashley McBryde, the directness was striking. Here was a songwriter expressing loneliness, desire, and uncertainty without dressing those emotions in complicated language.
During the interview, Ashley McBryde explained that the song introduced a kind of emotional honesty Ashley McBryde had never encountered in quite that way as a child.
Ashley McBryde went further, crediting Kris Kristofferson with helping inspire the decision to become a songwriter.
That revelation gave the upcoming CMA performance a meaning far beyond an ordinary tribute.
Why This Kris Kristofferson Song Mattered to Country Music
Kris Kristofferson released Help Me Make It Through the Night on the 1970 debut album Kristofferson.
Sammi Smith transformed the composition into a major country hit, reaching number one on Billboard’s country chart. At the 1972 Grammy Awards, Sammi Smith won Best Country Vocal Performance, Female, while Kris Kristofferson received Best Country Song for writing it.
The recording helped establish Kris Kristofferson as one of Nashville’s most important songwriters.
Alongside Me and Bobby McGee, Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, and For the Good Times, the song demonstrated Kris Kristofferson’s ability to turn ordinary human experiences into unforgettable music.
For Ashley McBryde, that influence was personal long before it became professional.
The Moment Kris Kristofferson’s Widow Stood Up
When Ashley McBryde performed at the 58th CMA Awards, Kris Kristofferson’s widow, Lisa Meyers, was sitting in the audience.
Photographs from Kris Kristofferson’s life accompanied the acoustic performance, bringing memories of decades of country music into the room.
As the song ended, cameras showed Lisa Meyers standing to applaud and blowing kisses toward Ashley McBryde.
It was one of the evening’s most personal moments.
Before the ceremony, Ashley McBryde had expressed the hope that Ashley McBryde’s own father would tune in to watch the performance.
The little girl who once struggled to hold a guitar had grown into a Grammy-winning country artist, performing the very song that helped shape Ashley McBryde’s understanding of songwriting.
A Goodbye That Reached Across Generations
Following the ceremony, Ashley McBryde described the tribute as an honor and reflected on how deeply Kris Kristofferson’s music had become part of Ashley McBryde’s life.
Kris Kristofferson left behind recordings, performances, and songs that generations of artists continue to interpret. But Ashley McBryde’s performance revealed another part of that legacy: the music passed quietly between parents and children, long before anyone knows where those children might end up.
On that November night in Nashville, a childhood guitar lesson became a public farewell.
And the song Ashley McBryde’s father once taught a little girl became Ashley McBryde’s way of honoring the man who helped inspire a lifetime of songwriting.