On Wednesday night, the CMA Awards gave trophies to the year’s biggest and brightest country music stars. The most vied-after award, Entertainer of the Year, went to Lainey Wilson, who has undoubtedly had a massive 2023. As she took the stage to accept the honor from country music icon Keith Urban, Wilson, 31, was overcome with emotion and teared up as she delivered her acceptance speech.
“This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, it’s the only thing I know how to do,” the “Watermelon Moonshine” singer told the crowd. “We have played… I think at the end of the year we’ll have played about 186 shows this year and we’ve worked our butts off this year and so many years in between. I’ve been in this town for 12-and-a-half years and it finally feels like country music is starting to love me back.” Scroll down to watch Wilson’s speech and see what country music fans had to say online.
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The Speech
During her speech, Wilson spoke about her “lucky number” nine. “That’s how many times we were nominated for the CMAs this year,” she explained. “But it’s also the year that I wrote my first song.
“Awesome Finish”
Wilson continued, “It’s the year that I got my first pair of bell bottoms. It’s the year that my mom and daddy brought me to Nashville for the very first time and took me to the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. It’s the year that my mom and daddy brought home this horse named Tex and the horse was, it was wild and it needed breaking and they put me on the back of that thing and they said ‘You better hold on, you better ride.’”
“Congratulations”
The singer went on to say, “And I tell you what, there were times where I was crying and I wanted to get down, I’m like, ‘Let me off the back of this thing.’ But y’all, every time it would start bucking, I’d hold on a little bit tighter.” Wilson then said she believes her horse “prepared me for this ride, because it is wild.”
“Deserve It”
Concluding her speech, Wilson said, “And thank y’all for letting me be me and thank y’all for, for giving me this opportunity. Thank you Jesus. Thank you. Thank you every single person on my team. I love y’all. I love you Duck. Do love you Mom and Daddy, Jane, the boys, God bless you.”
“So Happy”
Over on Youtube, many of Wilson’s fans have showered praise on her big win. “I’m so happy that a female Country artist Finally won this big award,” one person wrote. “Congrats to Lainey Wilson I’m so proud of her.”
Critics
Notably, while many people have been supportive of Wilson’s win, others have taken to social media to criticize the CMAs for her win over the other artists who were nominated for Entertainer of the Year.
“Opening Act”
“So you never give the award to [Carrie Underwood],” one person tweeted, “yet you’ll give it to a new artist who is still an opening act?”
“Ridiculous”
“I’m sorry but these awards are ridiculous,” one other viewer added. “Lainey literally opened for Morgan Wallen. She is great. I agree, but he should’ve won this award. He didn’t win anything which is absolutely ridiculous. The award shows are absolute crap.”
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