The 49th annual CMA Awards allowed country music lovers to tap into their childhood and teenage years with a recreation of Stars Wars. Last night’s (Wednesday, November 4th) show at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville kicked off with hosts Carrie Underwood — who was dressed as Princess Leia, and Brad Paisley backstage in a panic, trying to inform artists that the “Star Wars bit has been canceled.”
Following the nostalgic skit, Carrie and Brad took the stage and were armed with jokes ranging from the “Nae Nae” dance, the phrase “cray cray” and the online dating service for those in a relationship called Ashley Madison, to Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert‘s recent split. William Shatner of Star Trek even made an appearance on stage, alongside Paisley and Underwood.
- The big winners of the evening were Chris Stapleton, who took home three awards, and Little Big Town, who took home Single of the Year for “Girl Crush” as well as their fourth consecutive win for Vocal Group of the Year. including Album of the Year. Miranda Lambert won Female Vocalist of the Year and the biggest winner of the night was Luke Bryanwho won Entertainer of the Year.
WINNERS
Entertainer of the Year – Luke Bryan
Album of the Year – Chris Stapleton Traveller
Single of the Year – Little Big Town “Girl Crush”
Song of the Year – “Girl Crush” – Written by Liz Rose, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey
Male Vocalist of the Year – Chris Stapleton
Female Vocalist of the Year – Miranda Lambert
New Artist of the Year – Chris Stapleton
Vocal Duo of the Year – Florida Georgia Line
Vocal Group of the Year – Little Big Town
Music Video of the Year – Maddie & Tae “Girl in a Country Song”
Musical Event of the Year – Keith Urban featuring Eric Church “Raise ‘Em Up”
Musician of the Year – Mac McAnally
PERFORMANCES
Eric Church and Hank Williams, Jr. got the show rolling with a patriotic performance of “Are You Ready For The Country,” which ended with a standing ovation.
Keith Urban and John Mellencamp performed a duet of “Pink Houses.” With the spotlight focused in the center of the stage, Urban then gave a solo performance his new record “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”
Zac Brown Band performed “Beautiful Drug.”
Kenny Chesney, with a serene tropical ocean background behind him, performed “Save It For A Rainy Day.”
Sam Hunt performed “Take Your Time,” while every young female fan in the audience stood on their foot and screamed at the top of their lungs.
After winning song of the year, Little Big Town did an outfit change and performed “Girl Crush.”
Carrie Underwood, after multiple outfit changes, grabbed her guitar and hit the stage to perform “Smoke Break.”
Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed a duet of “Tennessee Whiskey.” The duo then switched gears and performed Timberlake’s “Drink You Away.”
Florida Georgia Line made their TV debut performance of “Confession.”
Eric Church performed “Mr. Misunderstood” from his recently released surprise album.
Fall Out Boy and Thomas Rett gave an electrifying performance of “Crash and Burn” and “Uma Thurman,” accompanied by female dancers dressed in all black.
Kelsea Ballerini performed “Love Me Like You Mean It.”
With a slew of college mascots rooting him on, Brad Paisley performed a creation of his video for “Country Nation.”
Blake Shelton performed “Gonna.”
On a small, circular stage Maddie & Tae gave an intimate performance of “Girl In A Country Song.”
Luke Bryan stripped out of his Darth Vader costume and hit the stage to perform “Strip It Down.”
Entertainment of the Year nominee Miranda Lambert showed off the pink streaks in her blonde bob during her performance of “Bathroom Sink.”
On a stage with shooting flames, a drummer and guitarists, Jason Aldean performed “Gonna Know We Were Here.”
Kacey Musgraves channeled her inner cowgirl for her performance of “Dime Store Cowgirl.”
Dierks Bentley performed “Riser” with help from You Tube sensation and violinist Lindsey Stirling.
Reba and Brooks & Dunn brought their Vegas show to Nashville and performed “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” and “Play Something Country.” 
