The 52nd ACM Awards came in hot with superstar performances, A-list winners and surprise moments only country music can deliver!
Jason Aldean capped off the night by winning his second-straight ACM Entertainer of the Year Sunday night (4/2) from Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena.
Thomas Rhett took the most wins at “Country Music’s Party of the Year” with three total. Among his wins was most surprising of the night, his first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year title.
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“Male Vocalist… I still don’t know what to say fully. I’m still processing that one,” Thomas told CMTcody.com and other reporters backstage at the ACMs. “All the people in that category have made me want to be a better singer… That was super surreal. That was the coolest award I’ve ever been given in my life.”
Meanwhile, Miranda, who won tied with Brothers Osborne and Florida Georgia Line with two total trophies, now holds the record for the most Female Vocalist of the Year wins ever with eight.
“I’m really so thrilled that I can still help lead the charge for women in this business,” Miranda tells press backstage. “I just am so thrilled that I can keep pushing forward and making way for other women to do the same thing. I’ll be happy as a clam when it’s someone else’s turn. I’m really humbled by it.”
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Country collaborations defined the night with unforgettable moments from Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban (“The Fighter), Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (“Speak To A Girl), and Florida Georgia Line and Backstreet Boys (“God, Your Mama and Me”).
Hosts Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley opened the show with a performance of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” accompanied by Joe Walsh on guitar. Luke also took to the stage with his fellow Entertainer of the Year nominees at the show’s open as well as to perform his latest single “Fast.” Dierks returned to the stage twice more, too, for his latest single “Black” and to perform “Flatliner,” his duet with Cole Swindell.
Sam Hunt delivered the most viral worth performance of the night when he performed his new single “Body Like a Back Road” and hopped off the stage for a surprise serenade to fiancée Hannah Lee Fowler.
See the full list of winners here and get continuing coverage from the 52nd ACM Awards tonight on CMT After MidNite with Cody.