CMA Awards 2015: Winners, highlights and best moments
Some of the biggest names in country music took home honors at the Bridgestone Arena Wednesday night during the 49th annual Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.
The evening's biggest honor -- Entertainer of the Year -- went to Luke Bryan, who looked thrilled to hear his name, even kissing his trophy at one point onstage. He thanked his fans and crew, along with his wife for allowing to be on the road so much. "This is the best business in the world with the best people....I love you, country music. I love you, fans," he said. Bryan beat out Erich Church, Miranda Lambert, Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney for the coveted honor.
Single of the Year -- the first award handed out during the telecast -- went to Little Big Town for the smash hit "Girl Crush." "I don't think we're ready for this," the group noted. Karen Fairchild pointed out how the song is "about being brave and being bold" before thanking country radio for embracing the single. It wouldn't be the group's only trophy of the night. "Girl Crush" also scored Song of the Year, and Little Big Town snagged Vocal Group of the Year.
Chris Stapleton took the stage three times to swoop up trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. "I don't know what to say. I don't know what to think," he said, appearing surprised by the album win for "Traveller." Though it was his acceptance speech for Male Vocalist of the Year that really resonated. Sounding on the verge of tears, he opened up about the death of his father and gave a shout-out to his wife for pushing him to be the best he could be. "This is an unbelievable thing to me, and I'm not going to take it lightly," Stapleton said. Sounds like his fellow country stars won't either. Bryan spoke about how much he appreciated all of Stapleton's wins Wednesday night. If you didn't know Stapleton before Wednesday, you likely will now.
Florida Georgia Line, meanwhile, won Vocal Duo of the Year for the third time. They called it "crazy" before thanking their road family, band and crew on tour.
Lambert took home her sixth Female Vocalist of the Year honor. Upon hitting the stage, the singer said she would keep her speech short, noting how much she appreciated the award. "I needed a bright spot this year," she said, likely referring to her high-profile divorce from Shelton. She then praised the evening's stellar performance by Stapleton and Justin Timberlake. "I'm going to go home and practice," she said.
Co-hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley kicked off the evening with a taped -- and quite silly -- "Star Wars" spoof. Right after that, Hank Williams Jr. and Eric Church got the music rolling with a live rendition of "Are You Ready for the Country," followed by a performance by John Mellencamp and Keith Urban, who dueted on Mellencamp's 1983 song, "Pink Houses."
Underwood and Paisley generated plenty of laughs during their live open. The duo started out with a little number about "what a crazy year it's been" in which they sang about all the "cray cray" things that have happened -- from Donald Trump leading in the polls to the Ashley Madison scandal and the Josh Duggar controversy. They called out Luke Bryan, dubbing him "Luke Stagefaller" for his epic stage flops.
And not surprisingly, the pair mentioned the many high-profile celebrity splits this year -- ending with the biggest one of all. Thought it would be Shelton and Lambert, didn't you? Well, instead they cited Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, who ... ahem ... also broke up this summer. Paisley then said a casual hello to Shelton as the camera panned to him in the audience: "On a completely unrelated topic, howdy Blake?" Shelton, who confirmed Wednesday that he's dating his "Voice" co-star Gwen Stefani, laughed; he was all smiles.
"Did you hear that duet that Blake did with Ashley Madison?" Paisley joked at one point. "That was with Ashley Monroe," Underwood replied, referring to the singer -- not the website.
And then surprise! William Shatner -- in costume -- popped onstage for more jokes about "Stars Wars" and "Star Trek." Before leaving, the "Star Trek" actor said he would be "boldly" going to the gift lounge prior to uttering the catchphrase, "May the force be with you."
Overall, the co-hosts had some good one-liners and jokes. As Paisley said, "Miley [Cyrus] sets the bar, we try to reach the bar."
Performances continued throughout the three-hour show, with Little Big Town doing a live version of its award-winning single, "Girl Crush."
One of the evening's highlights came when Stapleton was joined onstage by a soulful Timberlake for impressive versions of Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey" and Timberlake's "Drink You Away." That wasn't the only mash-up collaboration. Rock-pop act Fall Out Boy also took the stage with singer Thomas Rhett for "Crash and Burn" and its own hit, "Uma Thurman."
Florida Georgia Line played its TV debut with "Confession," and Underwood took a break from hosting duties to perform "Smoke Break." Church sang "Mr. Misunderstood," a track off his new surprise album, released this week.
Many eyes were on Lambert in the wake of her split from Shelton, especially with the news that her ex now has a new woman in his life. Lambert -- always a fan favorite -- did a crowd-pleasing rendition of her single,"Bathroom Sink." Oh, she sported pink hair and rockin' denim jacket, too.
A slew of performers took the stage, including Shelton, Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Reba McEntire (with Brooks & Dunn), Dierks Bentley, alongside violinist Lindsey Stirling, and Kelsea Ballerini. Presenters included Lee Ann Womack, Darius Rucker, Hannah Davis, Edie Brickell, Steve Martin, members the U.S. women's soccer team and Pentatonix, who did a nice a cappella version of the Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira."
Going into the night both Little Big Town and Eric Church led with five nominations each, followed by Kenny Chesney and Lambert with four nods each.
The takeaways? Look up Chris Stapleton. Justin Timberlake can pretty much do anything. And we love Lambert in pink.
Tell us: What did you think about this year's CMA Awards?