Returns to Celebrate Country Music's Greatest Rebels and Their Music in a New CMT Special Premiering November 4

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CMT) - CMT's 2004 landmark television event, CMT OUTLAWS, returns by popular demand. Country music giants Toby Keith and Merle Haggard are joined by Billy Joe Shaver, Shelby Lynne, David Allan Coe and Jack Ingram for the concert along with a few thousand rowdy country fans. CMT OUTLAWS 2005 premieres Friday, November 4 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT on CMT.

CMT OUTLAWS 2005 celebrates the true rebels of country music with country greats who make their music and live their lives according to their own rules. Superstar Toby Keith, who has made headlines for his own outlaw spirit, is joined on-stage by Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard for "Fightin' Side of Me," "Mama Tried" and "Some of Us Fly." Other performances include Billy Joe Shaver's "Live Forever" and "Try and Try Again," David Allan Coe's "The Ride," and "If That Ain't Country," Shelby Lynne's "Jesus on a Greyhound" and "When Johnny Met June," and Jack Ingram's "You Never Knocked Me Down" and a special performance of "Who Do You Love," with Toby Keith.

The Outlaws who take the CMT stage come with an incredible history. Haggard, an original Outlaw has written and recorded many undeniable country classics, including "Mama Tried," "Okie from Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side of Me" and also spent nearly three years in San Quentin prison for burglary, later to be pardoned by then Governor Ronald Reagan. Keith, has 10 platinum albums to his credit, amassed 21 chart-topping singles in his career and sold over 25 million albums, adds his own brand of rabble rousing to CMT OUTLAWS. Shaver, wrote most of the songs on Waylon Jennings' "Honky Tonk Heroes" album, and David Allan Coe, another original Outlaw, wrote Johnny Paycheck's No. 1 country hit "Take This Job And Shove It." Grammy winning powerhouse Shelby Lynne and Jack Ingram join the rowdy ways with a new generation of music.

Last year's CMT OUTLAWS concert included performances by Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery Gentry, Big & Rich, Tanya Tucker, Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings, Metallica's James Hetfield and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
For more information on CMT OUTLAWS log on to CMT.com.