Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson took home the night’s top honors as vocalists of the year at the 58th annual Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday night.
Stapleton also won Single of the Year, and Song of the Year for his hit “White Horse.” He has now been awarded Male Vocalist of the Year in three consecutive years and seven times overall since 2015. He is set to headline Weekend 1 of the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 2025.
Wilson, who cohosted the event, also won music video of the year for her song “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” It was her third consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year award and third for Video of the Year cementing her as the biggest name in women’s country music.
Morgan Wallen entered the night with seven nominations and took home just one award for Entertainer of the Year beating out Stapleton, Wilson, Luke Combs and Jelly Roll. Next May, Wallen will be in Gulf Shores, Ala., for his new festival Sand in My Boots. This three-day affair will include a diverse group of artists ranging from Wallen and Post Malone to T-Pain and 3 Doors Down.
Cody Johnson won Album of the Year for Leather. It reached No. 5 on the Billboard US Top Country Albums Chart and featured ingle of the Year nominee, “Dirt Cheap.” Johnson is set to kick off his Leather Deluxe Tour in January 2025 with guest appearances from Ashley McBryde, Drew Baldridge and Walker Montgomery.
Brooks & Dunn, who released their first album since 2019 this year, won Vocal Duo of the Year. Reboot II featured re-recordings of some of their biggest hits and had collaborations with Wilson, Jelly Roll and Megan Moroney.
Moroney, who released her debut album Lucky in May 2023, won New Artist of the Year, beating Shaboozey, Nate Smith, Mitchell Tenpenny, Zach Top and Bailey Zimmerman. Moroney recently announced her AM I OKAY? Tour which starts next March in Montreal. The tour will promote her second album of the same name which was released in July. It reached No. 3 on the US Country chart.
Despite topping the charts for 18 non-consecutive weeks with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey was only nominated for New Artist and Single of the Year. If his song holds its position for one more week, he will become the all-time record holder. Shaboozey is scheduled to play a handful of dates for the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, then Rolling Loud Festival in Miami, Tortuga Music Festival and Stagecoach in the next several months.
Finally, Old Dominion won Vocal Group of the Year, Charlie Worsham won Musician of the Year and Ella Langley took home the award for Musical Event of the Year. Langley was recognized for her performance of “You look like you love me” featuring Riley Green.
The highlight of the night was a tribute to George Strait, who was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Stapleton, Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum and Jamey Johnson joined forces to play “Troubadour” along with Strait.
See your favorite CMA Award winners when they come through your city, or take the stage at a festival next summer, with country music concert tickets from TicketSmarter. And don’t forget to enter TicketSmarter’s Free Tickets For Life Sweepstakes for your chance to win $2,000 in tickets every year.
