Big Night At The CMAs for Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town

For the second time in a row, Luke Bryan won Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville. 

It’s been a good year for the singer of “Play It Again,” who also won Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in April. This time, at the CMAs, Luke Bryan thanked God, his wife and, of course, his fans for the top award of the night.

“All the people that laid down their hard-earned money to come see my show,” he said, “thank you so much.”

He also gave a shout-out to another artist who took home three awards last night: Chris Stapleton. He’s best known as a songwriter composing hits for some big-name artists, including Bryan.

Stapleton only recently began working as a solo country artist. He won for best new artist, album and male vocalist — beating out Bryan in the latter.

“This is an unbelievable thing, and I’m not going to take it lightly,” Stapleton said, telling the audience he wrote his album after his father died. 

Stapleton joked that he was used to playing shows for six people in a basement, and that he might be playing bigger gigs now.

Little Big Town and their song “Girl Crush” also had a big night. Between the songwriters and the band, they also took home three awards.