A new album Bang, Zoom Crazy... Hello, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and a big Summer Tour, Rockford's Cheap Trick keeps it hot by kicking off the CMT Awards.

Cheap Trick Kicks Ass in CMT Awards Debut with Billy Ray Cyrus
FilmMagic, Getty Images
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First off... Billy Ray Cyrus is NO Robin Zander but he helped turn up the volume on the huge outdoor stage in downtown Nashville with a rendition of Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel which Rockfordians know, in 1988, became one of Cheap Trick's biggest hits. But that wasn't all. Billy Ray and Cheap Trick kicked it up another couple notches with CT's 1978 hit Surrender.

According to societyofrock.com, Don't Be Cruel was a perfect way to to celebrate the highly anticipated debut of his new CMT series Still The King, a comedy chronicling the life of a washed up Elvis impersonator as he gets his rock and roll career back on track.

THANK YOU CHEAP TRICK for making Rockford look and sound so damn good! And congratulations to CT drummer and new dad Daxx "Always Dialed" Nielsen.

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