Maren Morris wins the 2016 New Artist Of The Year award at the 50th Annual CMA Awards after singing her hit song “My Church”. (1:29)
“Y’all. I can’t win this award after performing I’m going to fall apart. Ok I’m sorry. So this is so crazy, this is so crazy. I have amazing seats tonight. This is incredible. Sorry they’re telling me to wrap it up. So last year I sat across the street at a bar and watched this show. I never thought as a song writer id be standing here today. Thank ya’ll so much for voting for me. My songwriting community here in Nashville, you gave me the courage to do this so thank you. My mom and dad are here tonight from Texas, and Carson…I don’t know where y’all are but thank y’all so much. You have supported me, ever sense I was eleven, and this crazy dream and thank you to my Janet…or my manager Janet, and everyone, she is my Janet technically. My love Ryan (Hurd). Happy birthday. I have a lot of people to thank but I’m really sorry, I don’t know. Thank yall so much. I really appreciate it.”
Kenny Chesney accepts the 2016 CMA Pinnacle Award (presented by Peyton Manning). (1:36)
“Thank you so much. You know, standing up here in this spot tonight looking out at a lot of friends, and a lot of heroes that have touched my life in so many ways. It took a kid from east Tennessee, your music, and your songs, took a kid from east Tennessee and showed me it was possible. There’s so many people to thank tonight. My manager, my partner, my friend Dale Morris and Clint Higham, thank you very much. To Joe Galante, to Randy Goodman, to Troy Tomlinson, to Holly Gleason, to my band my family my road crew my road family. So many people should be standing up here with me tonight. I want to thank the CMA for such an unbelievable honor. I tell ya though that when I think about what this means to me, to me it means connection with a lot of people that invested a lot of their life in my music and what we do, and to those fans out there that we call no shoes nation I want to thank you for allowing me and my band and my road family to hold your lives in the palm of our hand for a little while and for that I know that there’s a responsibility that comes with that, and that’s a responsibility that we all embrace, and thank you for loving the music. Thanks for giving me an amazing life. Thank you Peyton Manning for being here.”
Dolly Parton accepts the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by Lily Tomlin). (2:02)
“Thank you so much. Thank you Lily. Thanks to all these beautiful girlfriends of mine and Pentatonix, and congratulations to all the winners tonight. Wow, what a tribute. This was so touching. I woulda cried but I didn’t want to mess up my eyelashes you know. I was doing my best, but anyways. This is such a great compliment. This is a wonderful, wonderful night for me so thank you for all of that and of course now for me to be receiving the Willie Nelson Award, this is an absolute high for me. I mean for me to have a high achievement award, I mean how appropriate is that, he’s had some highs that border on historic I can tell you that, but enough of that. I really am very proud to receive this, and of course they’ve asked me to hurry it up they say their behind but you’re talking about a lifetime here right. Anyway, I know how this goes and I’ll make it as fast as I can. How about Jennifer Nettles as an actress? Did you see her in the Coat of Many Colors? Well we’re doing it again. Christmas of Many Colors on November the 30th. Jennifer you did so well, I’m so proud of you. Anyhow, I just want to thank all my fans and everybody for allowing me to see my little girl dreams come true. I have people that I must thank, a few people like my uncle Bill Owens and of course Cas Walker and Betty Killen, and Fred Foster and of course Porter Wagoner and all the many people who have helped me in my life. I had a big speech but they won’t let me give it so thank you so much for this wonderful award and have a wonderful evening. Thanks to all of you.”
Brad Paisley talks about the honor of winning both the Horizon Award and Entertainer Of The Year at the CMAs. (:45)
“It’s a huge full circle thing that not everybody gets. They’re been people that won either one that’s for sure, but it means a lot because…the Horizon Award, which is the New Artist Award, has this, sort of…’we believe in you, we believe you’re going to do great things, and you’ve already done something worth this,’ but that’s a great feeling. But then the Entertainer feels like ‘we knew you could do it’ or something (laugh) that’s so much more of a pat on the back as opposed to…the Horizon Award is a shove, it’s like ‘go,’ but the Entertainer’s is like a big embrace, it’s a hug and it’s a really hard earned award not everybody gets that. There have been some amazing artists, and legends that didn’t win that, and very thankful to have.”
Miranda Lambert looks back on her first CMA Awards performance in 2005. (:40)
“I was terrified to get on that stage. It was the year that it was at Madison Square Garden, so not only was my first time in New York City to perform but it was the CMAs and everybody I ever loved was sitting in the crowd, not to mention, you know, the television aspect of it. It was sort of my first time to say ‘hey, here’s who I am as an artist’ and so I felt like a lot was riding on that performance. And we had fire, like, these huge firewalls, and I was afraid my hair was gonna catch on fire. You know, it was just like a million things going through my mind…but, now I definitely know that, the feeling of the butterflies is because I cared so much because I knew it was important.”