Wow.
Last night, the CMA Awards took place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and the show was hosted by Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning.
It was generally pretty uneventful, and Morgan Wallen took home the coveted Entertainer of the Year award (and he wasn’t even there to accept it, which was funny), Cody Johnson won Album of the Year for Leather, and Megan Moroney won New Artist of the Year, just to name a few of the highlights.
Additionally, George Strait was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, which is a prestigious honor that goes to an iconic artist as one of the highest degrees of recognition in country music. Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Parker McCollum, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson also honored Strait with an all-star tribute, singing some of his hits like “Amarillo By Morning,” “Give It Away,” and “Troubadour.”
But one of the more emotional moments during the show was Ashley McBryde’s tribute performance for the late, great Kris Kristofferson, who passed away at the age of 88 years old at his home in Maui, Hawaii in September.
She delivered an understated, simple and striking rendition of “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” which absolutely perfect and a real show-stopping moment… I couldn’t help but think that this is the kind of “moment” these big award shows are always trying to force with a big display flashy performance, but those usually fall flat and are pretty easily forgettable.
Of course, “Help Me Make It Through The Night” was a solo write by Kris, and included on his 1970 album Kristofferson. It has been covered by countless other artists since then like Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Loretta Lynn, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Tyler Childers and many, many more.
“Help Me” peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1971, and of course, remains one of the all-time great country songs to this day.
Ashley was the perfect choice for this, and she sounded amazing… I know she did Kris Kristofferson proud, and if the entire CMA Awards was more like this, I think I might actually genuinely enjoy watching it.
Do yourself a favor and check it out… Rest in Peace, Kris Kristofferson.
“Help Me Make It Through The Night”
You can check out the full list of winners below, which includes Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, Brooks & Dunn and more.
Entertainer of the year: Morgan Wallen
Single of the year: “White Horse” by Chris Stapleton
Album of the year: “Leather” by Cody Johnson
Song of the year: “White Horse” by Chris Stapleton
Female vocalist of the year: Lainey Wilson
Male vocalist of the year: Chris Stapleton
Vocal group of the year: Old Dominion
Vocal duo of the year: Brooks & Dunn
Musical event of the year: “you look like you love me” Ella Langley (feat. Riley Green)
Musician of the year: Charlie Worsham
Music video of the year: “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” by Lainey Wilson
New artist of the year: Megan Moroney
