Keith Urban won his second annual Artist of the Year award on Wednesday night at the 52nd CMA Awards, 13 years after winning his first trophy in the most prestigious category of the show. .

"Little girl, I love you so much," Urban told his wife, Nicole Kidman. "I'm in shock, my God, thank you very much for the blessings that it has brought in. I would like my father to be alive to see him, but I think he's watching over me tonight." . "

Winning a category win over 10 years since the last is rare – only Garth Brooks and George Strait can say they did it. But 2017-2018 of Urban was undeniable. The Urban duo, "Coming Home," with Julia Michaels, launched his critically acclaimed "Graffiti U" album this spring, and spent months selling arenas across the country.

The other big winners of the evening are Chris Stapleton, who – even surprised himself – won the single and the song of the year for his title "Broken Halos" and the male singer of the year. He used his acceptance speech of Single of the Year to draw attention to the victims of the California wildfires, dedicating the victory to them.

Automatic reading

Thumbnails poster

Show captions

Last slide next

"First of all, I'll say that there are so many good songs in this category and that they should all have won," said Stapleton when he won the title of Single of the Year. "I wrote this song with my good friend Mike Henderson and I wrote it about people who left before their time."

The biggest night of country music has had some of the biggest upheavals. The Osborne brothers won the vocal Duo of the year for the third time and said they thought Dan + Shay would win.

"If it was in Florida, there would definitely be a recount," T.J. Osborne mocked the scene. Behind the scenes, John Osborne said that he had pre-written the congratulatory tweet to Dan + Shay.

Kacey Musgraves, surprised by herself, won the Album of the Year award for her critically acclaimed Golden Hour.

"Dang, it's really, really crazy timing," Musgraves said. "I just realized this morning that 10 years ago today, I went to Nashville. We put everything we have in this game, inspired by this beautiful universe and by you all. "

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood hosted the 52nd CMA Awards, the eleventh time the host couple at the helm. The team relies frequently on the news to find the inspiration for a humorous dialogue. There is not much to laugh about in the headlines lately, but the singers have kept the light with their popular parodies, gently attacking their friends in the audience and making fun of it. Paisley convinced Underwood to admit that she was going to have another boy.

More: Carrie Underwood reveals her baby's sex in CMAs

"Is it a Tim or a Faith … a Waylon or a Willie," Paisley asked.

"It's a Willie," said Underwood exasperated.

Luke Bryan started the evening with his new hit "What Makes You Country" and some of his up-and-coming friends. Bryan exchanged his words with Chris Janson, nominated three times, Luke Combs, Cole Swindell, Lindsay Ell, Ashley McBryde and Jon Pardi.

The collaboration was the first of many for the evening. Stapleton, his wife Morgane Stapleton, Maren Morris and Mavis Staples, supported by a gospel choir, invited people to dance to the sound of the soul and dance with moving performances of Stapleton's "friendship" and I will take you away.

Paisley joined Keith Urban, Marty Stuart, John Osborne, bluegrass singer Sierra Hull and young violinist Carson Peters to pay tribute to Country Music Hall of Fame Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs kicked off the party with his Kentucky Thunder band, then joined Urban and Osborne on "Highway 40 Blues", then Paisley, Stuart, Hull and Peters took over "Country Boy" – a segment that has captivated the audience for several minutes and ended in beauty. standing ovation.

More: CMA Awards 2018: Stars salute artist Ricky Skaggs, bluegrass

"It was wonderful, an incredible rush to see (people stand) for bluegrass," Skaggs said. "I thought, it's wild. It's the connection with people. It's a tribute to music. This is not a tribute to me. It was a tribute to the music they heard. "

In addition, Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean performed "Drowns the Whiskey", Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne presented an infamous version of their single "Burning Man", and Florida Georgia Line and Bebe Rexha reminded the audience why "Is number 1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs for 50 weeks. Lambert has also joined his trio, Pistol Annies, for their new single "Got My Name Changed Back". But it is a different collaboration that has won the musical event of the year.
Kenny Chesney and David Lee Murphy won the "Everything's Okay" trophy, which was announced Wednesday morning before the "Good Morning America" ​​trophy ceremony.

Chesney, who was not on the show because of a death in his family, sent a text to Murphy to tell him the news. It was Murphy's first nomination and his first win.

Murphy says the text as follows: "Brother, we won it."

"It was really special because we spent a lot of time on this album," Murphy continued behind the scenes. "He was with me on tour this summer and he really believed in this album, and it's special that we received the award for that reason."

Carrie Underwood performs at the 52nd Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo: Larry McCormack / tennessean.com)

Old Dominion, winner of the Vocal Group of the Year award, and Combs, who won the title of New Artist of the Year, also won the first prize of the evening.

The combs, his voice breaking with emotion, thanked everyone who had ever believed in him or inspired him.

"God, I love country music," he says tearing.

Underwood took a break from her work to present "Love Wins" and earned her fifth victory as singer of the year.

"Thank you, God," said Underwood, who started crying. "I've had a lot of luck in my life, and every day (I'm trying) to understand what I've done to deserve it." It means so much. "

Given the Underwood year, she was the favorite of the odds of winning.

There were also several new performers at the 52nd CMA Awards ceremony. Dan + Shay returns to the video "Tequila", nominated for the AMC, for their interpretation of the film multiplatinum. The snow fell in the arena and the piano was on fire while the men seduced the crowd with their nostalgic hit. Combs delivered its latest hit, "She's got the best of me", and Midland paid tribute to Burt Reynolds, who passed away in September, with a perfect cover of "Eastbound and Down" from Reynolds' seminal "Smokey and the Bandit".

In another first, Garth Brooks made his debut with his new ballad at the 52nd CMA Awards. Brooks had hinted at the surprise – a song written for his wife Trisha Yearwood – but even Yearwood had not heard it. With just a guitar and a projector, Brooks made his fiancée cry with "Stronger Than Me".

Automatic reading

Thumbnails poster

Show captions

Last slide next

Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2018/11/14/cma-awards-keith-urban-upsets-chris-stapleton-steamrolls/2009231002/