Lainey Wilson Dominated Last Night's 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. Yeah, it was her night.
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.
Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning were solid. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder and delivered a good monologue. They busted on each other, showed clips of each other doing stupid things, and even sang together. It's their gig as long as they want it.
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. Unfortunately, it looked like she wasn't feeling well, and struggled to keep her balance.
Ashley McBryde quietly commanded the stage while performing "The Devil I Know". Same with Jordan Davis singing "Next Thing You Know".
You want romantic? 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". They were unannounced, but definitely welcomed.
Even though it's impossible to dislike Luke Combs. His performance of "Where the Wild Things Are" was, well, uninspiring. It just never took off.
And then there's Chris Stapleton. He never sits one out. He played lead guitar and sang "White Horse" . . . and it was amazing. It made me wish I was in the audience joining them for the standing ovation when it was over.
Speaking of that. You want another clue that it was Lainey Wilson's night? The crowd gave her a standing ovation before she even started her performance of "Wildflowers and Wild Horses". They must have known they were in for something big.
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.
Here's a message to Kelsea Ballerini. You did a fine job performing "Leave Me Again", but that IS your last divorce song, right?
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."
comedian Steven Wright remembering his grand dad.
Jelly Roll saying "Country radio, what's up, baby!" (From the 2023 "57th Annual CMA Awards".)
Lainey Wilson recently bought 30 acres near Nashville, and she's getting help taking care of the place. Here she is talking about putting her boyfriend Devlin "Duck" Hodges to work.
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