It couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person.
On Sunday night, Cody Johnson won his first Entertainer of the Year trophy at any major country award show, and he also took home the award for Male Artist of the Year. He was nominated for four awards in total, also including Single of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for “The Fall.”
It’s a big moment in any artists life to win such a coveted award, and Cody shared an Instagram post saying it “means more than [he] could ever put into words,” adding that “the ride has been worth the fall,” which are of course lyrics from his aforementioned song.
CoJo also took time to thank all of his fans for their support over the years, adding that he feels blessed to use his God-given gifts to reach so many people. He acknowledged that he would have never made it close to that stage “without the grace and mercy of Jesus,” and while the entire group of EOTY nominees were deserving, it’s impossible not to root for a man like CoJo:
“This gold buckle means more than I could ever put into words. Entertainer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year… what a night. ‘The ride has been worth the fall.’ I wouldn’t even be standing on this stage without the grace and mercy of Jesus. Thank you to every country music fan that’s spent your hard-earned money on a ticket, sang these songs back to me and let me live this dream every night.
They say music is the sound of emotion. Every time I step on that stage, all I’m looking for is that connection with y’all out in the crowd. Thank you for letting me use this gift God gave me to share those moments together. Love y’all. See you out there.”
Cody beat out a stacked group of artist for the nights most coveted award, including his friend, the aforementioned Luke Combs, as well as Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen, and Lainey Wilson:
Sadly, Cody’s wife, Brandy, and kids couldn’t be there because Brandi gave birth to their third child, and first son, Jaycee Daniel Johnson, in October of last year, and so she was at home holding down the fort, so to speak, and keeping everything running back in Texas. But of course, they were watching, and Cody tried to go call him after he got to his bus following the win, but when he finally arrived, his entire band was there and it turned into a party.
Finally, he got a second to call them, and Brandi kept declining the calls… it’s pretty funny to think about her not answering after her husband won such a big award, and CoJo couldn’t figure out what was going on. Finally, she told him she was breastfeeding their son and he needed to step into the back lounge and call away from all the people out there celebrating:
“I ran straight to the bus, I wanted to get away. I needed a moment. This meant so much to me and I thought I was gonna be alone. I walked onto the bus and my whole band was there, so it turned into a huge moment. And after about 15 minutes, I was like, ‘Okay, look I gotta FaceTime my wife an my kids.’ I was trying to FaceTime, and my wife was declining the calls.
I’m trying to figure out why, it’s because she was breast-feeding our son. I was like ‘Okay.’ So I gotta go to the back lounge, I gotta close the door, by myself, and I got to spend a very special moment with her, my newborn son, my daughters. It’s really cool, man. Those are my biggest fans. They they stand behind me, make me feel like I’m Superman.
I always tell my girls like, ‘Alright, when daddy leaves, he’s gotta put a Superman cap on to go be the Cody Johnson guy.’ Because when I come home, it’s just dad. You know, I’m a softball coach. I try to just be home and be present with them at the house.”
It’s clear how important it is to Cody to be a present dad, and he seems to maintain balance as much as anyone can who does what he does for a living.
He also said in the interview with Billboard that he didn’t remember what he said in his speech, but he felt it was important to just “speak from the heart” and not just list out a speech that he had pre-planned and written out:
“I have no clue what I said in that speech because it just came off the cuff… I just truthfully spoke from the heart. It was one of those things that, I felt like, when you’re honored with that moment of entertainer of the year after 20 something years of hard work, speak from the heart, you know.
Really try to change peoples perspective on things be positive and I just I just really tried to tell my story it was. It was a moment for me that I’m gonna have to go back and watch, make sure I didn’t say something stupid.”
He gave a great speech, and the EOTY category was very solid this year, and really, anyone could’ve won it and it would have seemed like a great choice.
Hopefully, if CoJo ever wins it again, his family can be there, but family comes first in the Johnson household and that’s a big part of the reason he was able to win that award in the first place.
Cody Johnson talks about the sweet moment he shared with his family after winning Entertainer of the Year at the 2026 #ACMAwards 🥹 pic.twitter.com/78kv9CJSMe
— billboard country (@bbcountry) May 18, 2026
Cody also performed his cover of “Travelin’ Soldier” on the show:
