Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina shut down the 2018 ACM Awards with a jaw-dropping performance of their duet, “What Ifs.”

Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina have a long history. They were 13 and 12, respectively, when they first met at Lakeview Middle School in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. The two have taken very different paths to stardom, Lauren Alaina via American Idol and Kane Brown by way of social media, but both have found their place in the country music industry.

Their success was helped by their chart-topping duet, “What Ifs,” which earned them a Vocal Event of the Year nomination at the 2018 ACM Awards. And a CMT Music Award for Collaborative Video of the Year.

During the 2018 ACM Awards show live from Las Vegas, the longtime friends performed the song and left viewers breathless with their incredible vocals and chemistry.

At the end of the performance, Brown and Alaina closed in as if they were going to share a kiss. The tension was palpable, and you could almost hear the audience hold their breath as they anticipated what was about to happen. Instead, the two shared a friendly hug, leading to a huge round of applause from the crowd.

While the moment made for great television, both artists admitted that it was uncomfortable at the moment.

In an interview with Taste of Country following the show, Brown admitted that he hadn’t rewatched his “super awkward” televised performance. Brown shared that it was the producers’ idea to “sell the song” to the audience with a breathtaking ending.

“That was the first thing they told us,” Brown recalled. “They were just like, ‘This is how you end.’”

Kane, who was engaged to now-wife Katelyn, said that the moment was “super awkward. “Lauren was like, ‘Might as well go ahead and grab his butt too!’”

Both artists have since married. Kane wed Katelyn Jae in 2018, and the couple shares three children. Lauren said “I do” to Cam Arnold in early 2024 and the pair are expecting their first child, a daughter, in 2025.

Watch Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina’s 2018 performance of “What Ifs” in the video below.