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:
Luke Bryan delivers a medley of his hits
CMA Awards co-host Luke Bryan performed a medley of some of his biggest hits during Wednesday night's show.
The "American Idol" judge performed his songs "Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day," "One Margarita," "That's My Kind of Night," "Play It Again" and "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)."
Tracy Chapman wins song of the year
Tracy Chapman won the CMA Award for song of the year for "Fast Car," which was originally released back in 1988 on Chapman's self-titled debut studio album, and re-recorded as a cover by Luke Combs for his 2023 album, "Gettin' Old."
Presenter and country singer Sara Evans read a message on behalf of Chapman, who was not in attendance at the awards show. "I'm sorry I couldn't join you all tonight," Chapman said in her message. "It's truly an honor for my song to be newly recognized after 35 years of its debut. Thank you to the CMAs and a special thanks to Luke and all of the fans of 'Fast Car.'"
Other nominees in the category included Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson and Lainey Wilson for "Heart Like a Truck"; Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill and Josh Osborne for "Next Thing You Know"; David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney and Ben Williams for "Tennessee Orange"; and Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Jordan Schmidt for "Wait in the Truck."
Luke Combs wins single of the year
Luke Combs, along with Chip Matthews and Jonathan Singleton, won the CMA Award for single of the year for his cover of "Fast Car.”
"First and foremost, I wanna thank Tracy Chapman for writing one of the best songs of all time," Combs said while accepting the award. "I just recorded it because I love the song so much. It's just meant so much to me in my entire life."
Other nominees in the category included Lainey Wilson for "Heart Like a Truck," Jelly Roll for "Need a Favor," Jordan Davis for "Next Thing You Know" and HARDY for "Wait in the Truck" featuring Wilson.
Jelly Roll opens the show with Wynonna Judd
Singer Jelly Roll kicked off the CMA Awards with a performance of his hit song. "Need a Favor," alongside country music legend Wynonna Judd.
Jelly Roll is nominated for five awards tonight.
What happened at the 2022 CMA Awards?
Luke Combs won big at last year's CMA Awards, taking home the trophies for entertainer of the year and album of the year for "Growin' Up."
Chris Stapleton was named male vocalist of the year, Lainey Wilson was named female vocalist of the year, and Old Dominion and Brothers Osborne took home vocal group of the year and vocal duo of the year, respectively.
Wilson was also named new artist of the year while Alan Jackson was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Read all about the ceremony here.