Wilson, Stapleton big winners at CMAs

Lainey Wilson was seemingly everywhere at the Academy of Country Music Awards, collecting four trophies on a night that saw Chris Stapleton win the entertainer of the year honor.

Wilson performed twice Thursday — back-to-back — and delivered heartfelt speeches after her wins, which put her next to fellow winners and country music legends.

She won album of the year for “Bell Bottom Country,” accepting the honor slightly breathless after performing her song “Grease.”

Wilson called the album a “labor of love” and said she wrote 300 songs during the pandemic. She said people often tell her how much the album means to their lives, and she said writing them “saved mine.”

When she won female artist of the year, co-host Dolly Parton handed her the trophy. “I can’t believe I just met Dolly Parton, first of all,” Wilson said.

She gave credit to the female artists who preceded her and the sacrifices she knew they had all made: “I’m up here because of y’all. Because of people like Dolly Parton, paving the way.”

“For the little girls watching this, this stands for hard work,” Wilson said, referencing her trophy. “If you’re going to be a dreamer, you better be a do-er.”

Stapleton owned the stage at the end of the night, winning the ACM’s top honor.

“I am shocked, truly,” Stapleton said. “By any imaginable metric, I don’t deserve this. … I’ve never thought of myself as somebody who would win this award.”

He dedicated the award to his children at home, saying they sacrifice a lot of time with him and his wife because of his career.

Breathless moments weren’t uncommon during the performance-heavy show. Cole Swindell won the night’s first award, song of the year, for “She Had Me at Heads Carolina.” He had just performed the song with Jo Dee Messina.

Swindell later won single of the year for the same song. “Thank you, country music fans, that’s all I’ve ever been,” he said. “I don’t know what I ever did to get this fortunate.”

Singer-songwriter HARDY entered the show as the leading nominee and collected four awards. “Wait in the Truck,” his duet with Wilson, who was the secondleading nominee, won the music event award.

Garth Brooks and Parton hosted the two-hour awards show, streamed live on Amazon Prime from the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco.