Country star Brad Paisley appeared at the Chicago area high school graduation to perform some songs and speak to the class on June 2, 2017, according to ABC. Paisley delighted the students of Barrington High School, in the western suburbs of Chicago, by appearing at the graduation ceremony held at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, where the ceremony was being held, according to ABC News.
The students had entered a video in response to a Tweet from Paisley asking what they would miss most about high school. He invited students to send a video via Instagram or Twitter for his "Last Time for Everything" contest.
The Barrington High School students won the contest but did not know about their victory until Paisley appeared on stage and announced they were the winners. The students' video featured activities such as mattress surfing down a flight of stairs, pushing the Dean into a swimming pool and hitting golf balls on the football field.
The class of about 700 students watched the video on the large screens in the church auditorium. School Principal Steven A. McWilliams wondered aloud what Brad Paisley would think about the video. Paisley walked out on stage and the students applauded.
"Can I have a tassel now?" joked Paisley. "That video that you guys made is amazing. I'm jealous," he continued. "We had a VCR at my school -- you don't even know what that is. That was the extent of our video department."
Paisley kept the tone of his commencement speech light, as he joked about high school not being the best years of your life, in spite of what people might tell them. He sang "Today," "Letter to Me," and "Last Time for Everything." He closed by saying "Go change the world, Y'all." The video of his appearance in Barrington is attached.
The three-time Grammy winner started his Weekend Warrior tour in May and will continue touring throughout the summer, according to CMT.
Paisley's video "Today" has been nominated for CMT Video of the Year. The award ceremony will take place in Nashville on June 7 and will be televised live on CMT.