CMA Awards 2023 recap: All the biggest wins and epic performances
Lainey Wilson took home the top honor of entertainer of the year.
Many of the biggest names in country music were honored at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards Wednesday night.
Lainey Wilson took home three of the top awards of the night, including the coveted entertainer of the year award, as well as female vocalist of the year and album of the year. She won two awards prior to the show, thanks to her collaboration with Hardy on his song "Wait in the Truck," bringing her total number of wins this year to five.
Elsewhere at the 2023 CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton won the award for male vocalist of the year, while Old Dominion and Brothers Osborne won vocal group of the year and vocal duo of the year, respectively.
There were also plenty of notable performances during the packed show, including a moving tribute performance for the late music legend Jimmy Buffett.
Check out a recap of how the night unfolded below.
Key moments:
Hardy, Morgan Wallen and Post Malone take the stage
Singers Hardy and Morgan Wallen got the crowd dancing during their performance of Joe Diffie’s “John Deere Green.”
Post Malone then joined them onstage to sing Diffie’s “Pickup Man,” which the crowd also enthusiastically sang along to.
Lainey Wilson wins female vocalist of the year
Lainey Wilson won the CMA Award for female vocalist of the year. This is Wilson's second win in the category after taking home the award last year.
"This is for all of the hardworkin' ladies that I know, that I don't know. I see ya," she said in her acceptance speech. "For all you little girls watching, and for the ones that are here tonight too, it's something that I'm doing, I'm getting up every single day and look[ing] at myself in the mirror and saying, 'I am beautiful. I am smart. I am talented. I am godly. I am fearless. If somebody tells me I can't do it, hold my beer -- watch this.'"
She added, "Here's to all the ladies who blaze trails every single dang day of their life."
Other nominees up for the honor included Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce.
Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton perform "We Don't Fight Anymore"
Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton took the CMA Awards show stage to perform their song "We Don't Fight Anymore," which they released in June.
The duo were nominated for musical event of the year for the song.
"To say this is a dream come true would be an understatement," Pearce captioned an Instagram post about her performance with Stapleton ahead of the awards show.
Lainey Wilson shouts out her hometown as she wins album of the year
Lainey Wilson took home the CMA Award for album of the year for "Bell Bottom Country" during Wednesday's ceremony.
The singer said her album was inspired by her small hometown of Baskin, Louisiana.
"You sit around a kitchen table and tell the same ol' stories you've been hearing for years, the kind of stories that get better every single time you hear 'em," she said. "Stories that make you laugh, make you cry, make you want to drink a beer -- just make you feel something. That's what we wanted to do with this record."
Other nominees in the category included Ashley McBryde's "Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville," Luke Combs' "Gettin' Old," Morgan Wallen's "One Thing at a Time" and Kelsea Ballerini's "Rolling Up the Welcome Mat."
Lainey Wilson wins entertainer of the year
Lainey Wilson took home the CMA Award for entertainer of the year, the ceremony's top honor, at the end of Wednesday night's show.
"This is all I've ever wanted to do. It's the only thing I know how to do," she said. "It finally feels like country music is starting to love me back. I love it with my whole heart."
Wilson called her experience in the industry so far a "wild" ride, adding, "Thank y'all for letting me be me."
Other nominees in the category included Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood and Morgan Wallen.