Kentucky native leaves mark on 49th Country Music Awards

“I love you, fans”, he said. Bryan came out victorious, beating Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. “I don’t know what to think”, he continued.

“Seventeen years ago this very month we became a band”, an emotional Kimberly Schlapman said onstage, standing next to band members Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet. It wouldn’t be the group’s only trophy of the night.

Little Big Town, who also earned applause for their performance of the ballad “Girl Crush”, won vocal group and single of the year for the No. 1 hit. Stapleton went three-for-three last night, winning Album of the Year, New Artist of the Year, and Male Vocalist of the Year, in what’s easily his breakout moment as a solo artist.

The Kentucky bluegrass musician, who released his solo debut album “Traveller” this year to rave reviews, basically walked away with the show. After his Male Vocalist win, Chris joked, “Probably gonna be a party tonight”. 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.

“I put so much pride in giving all I’ve got every night, performing and literally getting off the stage with ice packs on my knees and out of breath: that’s just the way I go about that”, he said. Stapleton’s shocking sweep last night was a coronation, an intervention, and an assassination attempt. As he strummed his guitar onstage alongside Stapleton, everyone in the audience – even the men – was in awe as the pop prince entertained with his signature, killer falsetto.

The audience seems to have had a good time, too.

That Chris Stapleton/Justin Timberlake collaboration.

Country star Miranda Lambert was among those taking to Twitter to praise Timberlake and Stapleton’s duet. “It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m going to do my best to handle it with a few degree of grace”, he said.

The 2015 Country Music Awards is always one of the biggest parties of the year.

Of course, Nashville never allows progress without retreat, which is why the show began with a one-two punch of down-home nostalgia: Hank Williams Jr. and Eric Church growling their way through Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country” in front of an enormous American flag, followed by Keith Urban and John Mellencamp teaming up for Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses”.

In keeping with their tradition, Carrie and Brad sang a song to kick off the show. That’s not bad. Luke Bryan falls a lot.

Stapleton’s wins surprised many in the country industry. Thought it would be Shelton and Lambert, didn’t you? Shelton, who performed at the live show on ABC, confirmed Wednesday just hours before the awards show that he and his fellow “Voice” mentor Gwen Stefani are dating.

You’ve heard the phrase, “Opposites attract”.

Speaking of which, Paisley and Underwood sang a parody of “Your Cheatin’ Heart” called “My Cheatin’ Site” about the hacked infidelity website, with a shout-out to Josh Duggar at the end. And while that may seem excessive, it should be noted the blonde beauty was doing double duty: she not only co-hosted the awards, she performed her history-making hit “Smoke Break”. As Paisley said, “Miley [Cyrus] sets the bar, we try to reach the bar”.

The pair, joined by a massive backing band, started off with a country staple, “Tennessee Whiskey”, before transitioning to Timberlake’s single “Drink You Away”.