httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kBnFgLP8po&list=PLDXnVE6Om1SOfWOEL5LQNdr_mPxi4YwW6
Luke Bryan may have won the CMA Awards’ top prize for entertainer of the year, but a soulful outsider swept many of the night’s most significant trophies.
Awards, winning for album of the year for “Traveller” and male vocalist of the year.
Following an impressive duet with Justin Timberlake and a win for new artist, the awards codified Stapleton as both a major new star and one of the genre’s most artistically significant newcomers.
Even Bryan, accepting the night’s top prize on the strength of his LP “Kill the Lights,” had to hand it to him: “Watching Chris Stapleton have this night is so uplifting,” Bryan said.
Little Big Town continued its winning streak with a prize for vocal group of the year, underlining the prowess of their inescapable single, “Girl Crush.”
Miranda Lambert, accepting the prize for female vocalist of the year, subtly alluded to her breakup with Blake Shelton.
“I needed a bright spot this year,” she said.
Later, Reba McEntire joined Brooks & Dunn for a revisit of their respective singles “Why Haven’t I” and “Play Something Country,” which implied that the night’s experimentalists couldn’t wander too far without a riposte from country’s roots.
Even an artist as mainstream as Bryan had to acknowledge that at the 2015 CMA Awards, songs like “Girl Crush” and Stapleton carried the night.