httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI-aPHeUDlk
LAS VEGAS – Breakout phenom Chris Stapleton dominated the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday, racking up half a dozen wins on one of the genre’s biggest evenings.
In a stunner, the night’s most coveted award – entertainer of the year – went to Jason Aldean, an overdue surprise for the singer who added stadium concerts to his tours years ago – and toured with Luke Bryan as an opening act.
When Bryan leapfrogged over his friend to win his first ACM Entertainer of the Year Award in 2012, Aldean thought his chance to win country music’s top honor had passed.
While Aldean won the top award, it was Stapleton who walked away with the most wins, including best male vocalist, album of the year and song of the year, among others.
Stapleton’s success at Sunday night’s awards show has become par for the course for the singer, who also won the most awards at the Country Music Association Awards in November and was the top country winner at the Grammy Awards in February.
His sudden swell of public adoration was also part of ACM Awards co-hosts’ Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley’s opening monologue – as each host and multiple famous members of the audience jokingly stood up to take credit for discovering Stapleton.