Lainey Wilson Wins Big At CMA Awards

Lainey Wilson cleaned house at last night’s “57th Annual CMA Awards”.

She won five awards, including Entertainer of the Year. Yes, you heard that right. She became the first female to win that award since Taylor Swift in 2011.

She also won Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for “Bell Bottom Country”, and her song with Hardy, “Wait In the Truck” won Music Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year.

Nobody else dominated, although Chris Stapleton seems to own the Male Vocalist of the Year category. He won his seventh.

There was an early surprise when Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” won Single of the Year, and then moments later, Song of the Year. The Internet wasn’t happy that a cover beat out songs written by country artists in BOTH of those categories.

The night was filled with great performances. Jelly Roll opened the show with “Need A Favor”, and it got better when Wynonna Judd and her amazing voice joined him.

Ashley McBryde quietly commanded the stage while performing “The Devil I Know”.

Same with Jordan Davis singing “Next Thing You Know”.

While Cody Johnson was singing “The Painter”, a digital mural of his wife Brandi was on a giant screen behind him. It went from black & white to color by the time song ended, and they showed her in the audience crying when it was over.

There was a surprise when Morgan Wallen and Eric Church performed “Man Made a Bar”.

And then there’s Chris Stapleton. He played lead guitar and sang “White Horse” . . . and it was amazing.

The crowd gave Lainey Wilson a standing ovation before she even started her performance of “Wildflowers and Wild Horses”.

The stage looked like she borrowed a scene from “Yellowstone” . . . with chaparral, billows of smoke, barbed wire . . . and all of it colored it red. There was even a ring of fire. As promised, it was electrifying.

The Jimmy Buffett tribute had Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally singing “A Pirate Looks at Forty”, then Zac Brown and Alan Jackson on “Adios, My Friend”, and then all four on “Margaritaville”. In the words of Kenny, “Thank you, Jimmy.”

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Entertainer of the Year: Lainey Wilson

Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Stapleton

Female Vocalist of the Year: Lainey Wilson

Vocal Duo of the Year: Brothers Osborne

Vocal Group of the Year: Old Dominion

New Artist of the Year: Jelly Roll

Album of the Year: “Bell Bottom Country”, Lainey Wilson

Song of the Year: “Fast Car”, Luke Combs. It’s a songwriter’s award so he shares it with Tracy Chapman.

Single of the Year: “Fast Car”, Luke Combs

Musical Event of the Year: “Wait In the Truck”, Hardy and Lainey Wilson

Music Video of the Year: “Wait In the Truck”, Hardy and Lainey Wilson

Categorised in: Country Music News

This post was written by Cheryl Johnstone