It’s safe to say nobody was surprised that Chris Stapleton won three CMA Awards, more than anyone else – he took home trophies for Single (which goes to the artist) and Song (which goes to the writer) of the Year and Male Vocalist. Well-deserved and not shocking in any way.
There were two big surprises, though, both of which are good, in my humble opinion: First, Kacey Musgraves won Album of the Year for Golden Hour. This is big because she was the only woman nominated in the category – a category which has only been won by a solo woman 7 times in 52 years -- and because Kacey is an artist who has struggled to get radio to pay any attention to her since she first started releasing music. Big props to Kacey to making the music she wants to make and showing everyone how it’s done.
The second surprise came at the end of the show, when the look on Keith Urban’s face said even he was surprised to hear his name called for Entertainer of the Year. It’s been 13 years since he won that award, and it was a heavy duty category full of deserving artists (even if none of them were women). The tears on his face showed how surprised and grateful he was, too.
There were two best lines of the night, for me anyway. When producer Dave Cobb came up with Chris Stapleton for the single of the year honor, he said, “I want to thank Jesus and Lionel Richie.” (Because Lionel was sitting directly in front of him and he was a teensy bit starstruck.) And when Brothers Osborne came up to accept their Vocal Duo of the Year trophy, and John asked how they keep winning this thing, TJ said, “If this were Florida, there would be a recount for sure.” It’s not true, but it was still funny.
Finally, Luke Bryan gets a mention from me for two reasons. He opened the show with a performance of “What Makes You Country,” but he put the spotlight on artists that don’t generally get to play the CMA Awards. Luke Combs was one of them, and he actually did have a performance spot on the show, but there was also Cole Swindell, Jon Pardi, and most notably, Lindsay Ell and Ashley McBryde, who are among the women fighting to be heard over all these men in country music. And then… he flossed.
The full list of winners are below, and if you want to relive the night, check out CMA Awards 2018 on Slacker Radio.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR – Keith Urban
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR – Carrie Underwood
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR – Chris Stapleton
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR – Old Dominion
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR – Brothers Osborne
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR – Luke Combs
ALBUM OF THE YEAR – Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
SONG OF THE YEAR – “Broken Halos” by Chris Stapleton
SINGLE OF THE YEAR – “Broken Halos” by Chris Stapleton
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR – “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” by David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR- “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR – Mac McAnally