by Holly Gleason

Records were broken, startling returns were delivered and first-time Country Music Association winners emerged at the 58th Annual CMA Awards show last night. But even more significantly, Morgan Wallen not only appeared on that first-time winners list but came home with the evening’s highest honor: Entertainer of the Year.

At a time when it seems the pop world has gone country—the show opened with Chris Stapleton and Post Malone, sporting a genteel look, singing “California Sober”—the winners sent a clear message that while Nashville’s CMA voters valued and loved the out-of-format energy, they were intent on recognizing the artists whose roots remain solidly planted in the country space. Stapleton proved that in a big way. Once again winning Song and Single of the Year for his surging “White Horse,” he also took home his eighth Male Vocalist of the Year award. He and wife Morgane also delivered an erotically charged “What Am I Gonna Do” that deftly evoked the earliest days of Waylon and Willie’s Outlaw movement.

Equally stunning was Kacey Musgraves’ woman-alone-with-guitar performance of “The Architect.” After her sojourn into disco-cowgirl territory, her decision to return to her small town Texas roots on Deeper Well netted her three nominations—one for Album of the Year and one for Female Vocalist of the Year. She also got a nod for Musical Event of the year for duetting with BMI’s co-Songwriter of the Year and populist force Zach Bryan on “I Remember Everything.”

Cody Johnson, a hard-scrabble Texas traditionalist in terms of music and values, walked in with a five+two; his nominations including Male, Single and a pair of Video nods, plus “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter” in Song of the Year. The strength of his overall work delivered him the coveted Album of the Year award for Leather. “There’s very few moments in your life when Ric Flair feels appropriate, but…” and he delivered the iconic wrestler’s “WOOOOO!” The lean into hard traditionalism was also strong enough to hand Brooks & Dunn their 15th win for Duo of the Year. Reboot II, which paired them with many of today’s young turks, established the Country Music Hall of Famers as a strong foundational element for the ‘90s throwback sound embraced by so many. As Kix Brooks said in accepting, “A philosopher said, ‘Time is undefeated.’ Not yet, I guess…”

Ceremony co-host and 2023 Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson won Video of the Year, but more importantly, took her third Female Vocalist of the Year. Her performance of “4x4xU” showed her to be a woman who can lean hard into a song and deliver emotionally, visually and vocally.

That stark bar-room “thing” also vaulted Ella Langley and Riley Green’s more Western than Country “you look like love to me” to the Vocal Event of the Year award. Their from-the-audience performance carried a certain swag, especially Langley, giving off very Jessie Colter vibes.

Old Dominion, the earworm farmers who’ve also crafted hits for Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, accepted their seventh Group of the Year title from fellow veterans The Oak Ridge Boys, cementing the special place vocal groups hold in the genre.

First-time winner Megan Moroney, in a massive mermaid custom Cristian Siriano dress, was so shocked when she won Best New Artist that she didn’t have a speech. Believing people resonating with her lyrics may have helped give her the win, she told HITS exclusively, “I go to country music to feel less alone, and now I think people come to me the same way. I came here just happy to be here. And this? It’s a shock.”

Equally shocking for some was Wallen finally winning Entertainer of the Year, even as he skipped this year’s show, citing feeling used for ratings but continually shut out. His win signals the more traditional voters recognizing not only his commitment to making the music and doing the work, but also his drive and hunger to keep taking that music to the fans. This massive sign of recognition feels far more meaningful than just “most tickets sold.”

Beyond the winners, because only 20% of the nominees receive awards, there was a real spirit of music in the house. Luke Combs’ triple guitar assault on “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” showed what a powerhouse vocalist he is, with a vocal churn that cuts through the arena country ballast with ease.

Jelly Roll, always grateful, happy and free, was sanctified dueting with Brooks & Dunn on their 2006 Single of the Year winner “Believe,” pressing into a vocal exchange culmination with Ronnie Dunn that pitched both men to the rafters and salvation, bearing witness to the power of gospel, storytelling and country music. He returned with Keith Urban for the cautionary addiction tale “Liar.”

The George Strait tribute that set up his receipt of the prestigious Willie Nelson Lifetime Award genuflected at the high altar of classic Texas country. After Lainey sang a bit of “Amarillo by Morning,” modern outlaw Jamey Johnson stepped in to deliver a searing take on his 2007 CMA Song of the Year “Give It Away,” which was also the #1 country song of the year. Two more Texas icons, Miranda Lambert and Parker McCollum, delivered the life statement “Troubadour,” which pivots on the landmine refrain “I was a young troubadour when I rode in on a song, and I’ll be an old troubadour when I leave…”

The segment peaked when Strait, joined by stadium tourmate Stapleton, kicked into the wink ’n’ industrial shuffle “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame,” before giving the evening’s most moving speech. Visibly moved, he thanked Jesus Christ first, the artists who’ve performed, the songwriters, MCA Records, the fans, his band and “my manager, Erv Woolsey, my tour manager, Tom Foote, and fiddle player Gene Elders, all resting in peace with the Lord.” He ultimately thanked his whole family, but especially the support of his wife Norma “just shy of 53 years this December.”

Post Malone’s joy at just being in the room was palpable, and Shaboozey‘s performance of “Highway”/“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” showed the same, proving he’s bigger than just his 18 weeks at #1. In a genre where Godzilla-sized hits—like that scored by Billy Ray Cyrus, for one—often don’t yield a career, his performance and the rest of his Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going album steep his hip-hop influences in a country authenticity that pulls equally from Kenny Rogers, Marty Robbins and Merle Haggard.

At the other end of the spectrum, Dierks Bentley brought rising bluegrass queens Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes for a show-closing “American Girl” from Scott Borchetta’s Tom Petty tribute project. Robust and quick-picking, it’s Appalachia stretched across a rock canvas, showing another effective and roots-forward country music hybrid.