AceShowbiz - Disgraced country music star Morgan Wallen returned to the concert stage on Friday night (July 30) by making a surprise appearance at Luke Bryan's show in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wallen, who stepped back from the spotlight after he was caught on camera using the N-word during a night out with friends, performed his hits "More Than My Hometown" and "Whiskey Glasses" to the sold-out crowd at the Bridgestone Arena.

"So a really good friend of mine is here backstage," Bryan's guest Jason Aldean told the audience, prompting the headliner to add, "Do I need another tequila shot to get through this?"

Wallen then walked onstage with his acoustic guitar and introduced "More Than My Hometown" by saying, "This is a song about staying true to yourself, and that’s been a really hard thing for me to do lately, but here I am."

Last week (ends July 30), in his first major interview since being caught on video caught using the racial slur, Wallen spoke to "Good Morning America" co-host Michael Strahan, offering an explanation for the incident, which resulted in his music being pulled from radio and streaming sites.

"I was around some of my friends, and we say dumb stuff together," he said, "and it was - in our minds, it's playful... That sounds ignorant, but that's really where it came from... and it's wrong."

Wallen previously posted a lengthy apology video, in which he said he'd "let so many people down", and vowed to take some time to work on himself.