The 58th annual CMA Awards were certainly a night of surprises, but no one seemed as surprised as Chris Stapleton.
Chris took home three trophies out of the five he was nominated for -- Male Vocalist, Single and Song (for “White Horse”). Brooks and Dunn were also pretty stunned to hear their names called for their 15th Vocal Duo of the Year win after 15 years of watching their newer peers take home that win. And finally, much to his fans' approval, Morgan Wallen won that coveted Entertainer of the Year honor -- even though he wasn't in the house.
Hosts Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson and Peyton Manning managed to keep things from going too far off the rails with their homegrown humor and heartfelt tributes. In one of the most touching moments of the night, the trio raised red Solo cups to honor the late Toby Keith and were met by country artists in the audience who stood and raised their own cups.
Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees.
WINNERS:
- Entertainer of the Year: Morgan Wallen
- Female Vocalist of the Year: Lainey Wilson
- Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Stapleton
- Vocal Group of the Year: Old Dominion
- Vocal Duo of the Year: Brooks and Dunn
- New Artist of the Year: Megan Moroney
- Album of the Year: Cody Johnson - Leather
- Single of the Year: Chris Stapleton - "White Horse"
- Song of the Year: Chris Stapleton - "White Horse"
- Musical Event of the Year: Ella Langley (featuring Riley Green) - "You Look Like You Love Me"
- Music Video of the Year: - Lainey Wilson - "Wildflowers and Wild Horses"
- Musician of the Year: Charlie Worsham - guitar
- Willie Nelson Lifetime Achieivement Award: George Strait
- Jeff Walker Global Country Artist: Josh Ross