Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton rule the 2015 CMA Awards

Miranda Lambert wore a Stapleton T-shirt on stage during her performance, and Luke Bryan called Stapleton out in his own acceptance speech for Entertainer of the Year.

Stapleton, 37, stole the show at the CMAs, taking home three of the biggest awards of the night: New Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Album of the Year. He also won New Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Traveler, his debut album.

Stapleton, who was the lead singer of the bluegrass band The SteelDrivers, was on the brink of tears when he won his third prize at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Stapleton has been in Nashville a number of years as a songwriter, penning big hits for such names as Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, and George Strait.

Up until last night, Stapleton’s “Traveller” had sold less than 100,000 copies in the USA, despite being one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2015. The next year, she won the song of the year category for her track “Follow Your Arrow”.

“There’s probably gonna be a party tonight”, Stapleton said onstage, accepting his third award. “I’m not going to take it lightly …I got to thank my wife again, she always pushes me to be the best I can be …I gotta thank all my cousins in Kentucky”.

Check out the incredible Timberlake-Stapleton performance in the video above.

The former boyband heart-throb might not be known for the twang common in his southern roots, but Justin Timberlake proved on the stage of the 49th annual Country Music Awards Wednesday night that he can sing the country blues like any good Tennessean. She added that she “needed a bright spot this year”, referencing her divorce with Shelton.

Lambert and Shelton announced they were divorced in July, and hours before the CMAs aired, Shelton and Gwen Stefani confirmed they were a couple.

You’ve heard the phrase, “Opposites attract”. The Vocal Duo of the Year title went to Florida Georgia Line. Performance pairings included Hank Williams Jr. and Eric Church, Keith Urban and John Mellencamp, Timberlake and Stapleton, Reba McEntire with Brooks & Dunn, and Thomas Rhett with Fall Out Boy. “I don’t have a lot of that presence and I am sure there are a lot of people going, ‘Who in the hell is this guy?’ But thankfully, I guess I have a lot of fans in the industry who are like, ‘Watch this, we’re going to vote for him'”.

“Thank you so much for the love”.