Post Malone and Morgan Wallen are the flashiest nominees. But it was Chris Stapleton's night early on at the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday. The country traditionalist Stapleton, who has dominated the CMAs and most other country awards in recent years, won both single and song of the year for “White Horse,” scoring something of an upset in both categories over Malone and Wallen's “I Had Some Help,” which led to Malone getting four nominations and helped Wallen get seven coming into the show.
Stapleton joined Malone to open the ceremony from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville with a performance of Malone's “California Sober.” The opening song functioned as a shout-out to what will be a celebration of a time of crossover and collaboration in country. The ABC telecast, available on Hulu for streaming Thursday, will feature performances from artist combos throughout the night, including Shaboozey, Luke Combs and Eric Church; Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan; Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims; and Brooks & Dunn with Jelly Roll.
Shaboozey brought the crowd to its feet early on with a solo performance that began with a bit of his more sober single “Highway” before launching into one of the year's defining hits, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)." But he lost out to Megan Moroney for best new artist, who won minutes after her own performance. “Thank you Jesus for putting this dream on my heart,” Moroney, a 27-year-old from Georgia, said with misty eyes as she accepte.