At the end of the three-hour broadcast of the CMA Awards on Wednesday night (Nov. 13), it was finally time to reveal the coveted grand prize of the night, the CMA Award for entertainer of the year.
And this year, it went to Garth Brooks, who was vying for the title along with nominees Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.
After a very long kiss for his wife Trisha Yearwood, Brooks took the stage shortly after his “Dive Bar” performance with Blake Shelton, and shared his thoughts with the crowd as he accepted the CMA Award.
“Very sweet. Always try to call it like I see it,” Brooks said as he held his cowboy hat in one hand and his CMA Award in the other. “If they gave this award for this show tonight, I’d have to give it to Reba McEntire’s performance. Kelsea Ballerini, if you wanna know what an entertainer is, take a guitar and just a a single voice in the middle of an arena and shrink a room: fantastic performance tonight. Luke Combs, wherever you’re at, this has got your name on it in the future, I can tell you that right now.”
He went on to thank his entire team from coast to coast. Then he dedicated the award to “all the band and crews who get our ass on the stage down that road, and those people who show up and let us be entertainers.
“God love you.”