Gabby Barrett Honors Her Teacher At Hometown Show

Gabby Barrett returned to her roots during her last weekend of shows on Jason Aldean's "Rock 'n Roll Cowboy Tour" playing in Pittsburgh. While on stage, Gabby invited her former high school teacher Casey Stapleton as a special guest and gifted him with a platinum plaque for her breakout debut album, Goldmine.

Barrett later said, "In my community, Mr. Stapleton was one of the only people – and teacher in my high school – who encouraged me to pursue music when I needed it most. I was balancing school while performing in malls, grocery stores, Chick-fil-A, really anywhere I could, and he continued to uplift and inspire me to keep going."

She added, "I don't know if he had any idea how much of a positive impact he has made on my life and career. So, to be able to honor him near my hometown and have him see how I have grown as an artist while I'm now living my dreams is a moment I'll never forget."

Gabby played the concert decked out in a personalized Pittsburgh Steelers jersey for the soldout hometown crowd at The Pavilion at Star Lake. Before the show, she and her husband paid a visit and performed at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The hospital posted to Twitter, "Country music superstar and Pittsburgh native @GabbyBarrett_, made a special visit to UPMC Children's on Friday and performed in our Dream Big Studio, and answered questions from patients. What a fun day!"

Barrett is now off the road and is expecting her second child, a boy. She has yet to pick the name and recently asked fans on Insta stories their thoughts on a name for the new baby. The couple already has one girl who is just a little over one year old named Baylah and she already has some singing pipes of her own.

Besides touring the country as a special guest of Aldean's, she also played shows with Brooks & Dunn in June of 2022.

The nominees for the 2022 ACM Female Artist of the year honor are Gabby Barrett, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, and Carly Pearce.

Gabby, Ashley, and Carly have never taken home this honor.

Maren has won the honor two times in 2019 and in 2020, and Miranda has won this award nine times in a row from 2009 to 2017.

Previous winners of the honor include superstars Carrie Underwood, Reba, and Faith Hill.

The 2022 ACM Awards will be streamed live on March 7, 2022, on Prime Video. The show is hosted by Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen, and Gabby Barrett.