Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert Among CMA AWARD Winners; Full List

"The 51st Annual CMA Awards" walked the line between celebration and commemoration Wednesday night as Garth Brooks won Entertainer of the Year for a record-extending sixth time while Chris Stapleton and Brothers Osborne took home two Awards apiece.

An all-star group that included Kelsea Ballerini, Brooks, Kix Brooks, Eric Church, Ronnie Dunn, Faith Hill, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, and Keith Urban struck a chord of TOGETHERNESS through the ABC Television Network broadcast with an emotional collaboration that began with Church singing "Amazing Grace" a cappella in silhouette, then the rest of the group joining in on Rucker's uplifting hit "Hold My Hand" from his time as the lead singer of Hootie & The Blowfish.

Co-host Carrie Underwood then summed up the evening's mission statement in the opening of her 10th year monologue with Brad Paisley: "Las Vegas. Charlottesville. New York. Sutherland Springs. Historic storms in Texas, Puerto Rico and Florida. The list goes on and on. This has been a year marked by tragedy, impacting countless lives, including so many in our Country Music family. So tonight we're going to do what families do - come together, pray together, cry together and sing together."

By the end of the night, fans and members of the industry had done a little of all those things, celebrating the best music of the last year while calling for unity in a nation torn asunder by violence and tragedy, to remembering departed heroes such as Glen Campbell, who lost his fight with Alzheimer's disease, to Troy Gentry, one half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, taken too soon when his helicopter crashed on the way to a gig. The later was honored with a performance by Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, and surprise guest and bandmate Eddie Montgomery.

In a special candlelit moment, Underwood delivered a show-stopping performance of "Softly and Tenderly," remembering industry leaders lost this past year and closing by honoring the victims of the Las Vegas tragedy.

But the mood was lifted when, in traditional Brad and Carrie form, they brought levity to their 10th year co-hosting with humorous parodies reflecting current events "Way Down Yonder on the Scaramucci" and "Before He Tweets." Often the subject of Paisley and Underwood's jokes, this year Hill and McGraw flipped the script by surprising them with Brad and Carrie Barbies.

Brooks thanked his crew and band after winning the top CMA Awards honor for a sixth time. It marked the third time he's won Entertainer of the Year back-to-back years - 1991-92, 1997-98 and 2016-17.

"It's been 30 years," Brooks said. "Never have I felt more like a part of this industry. It's weird. We don't belong to a label or anything, but every label guy in the industry is hugging me out there. It feels like family."

Urban won the night's first telecast award, taking Single of the Year for "Blue Ain't Your Color." Urban co-produced the song with longtime collaborator Dann Huff and it was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. "Blue Ain't Your Color" was the fourth single from Urban's Ripcord album and stayed atop Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for 12 weeks.

Though she wasn't there, former CMA Entertainer of the Year Taylor Swift was a presence at "The 51st Annual CMA Awards," winning Single of the Year for "Better Man," given solely to the song's writer. Performer Little Big Town accepted the trophy for Swift.

A full list of winners follows:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Garth Brooks - WINNER
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist, Producer(s), and Mix Engineer(s))

"Better Man" - Little Big Town
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce

"Blue Ain't Your Color" - Keith Urban -WINNER
Producers: Dann Huff, Keith Urban
Mix Engineer: Chris Lord-Alge

"Body Like A Back Road" - Sam Hunt
Producer: Zach Crowell
Mix Engineer: Zach Crowell

"Dirt On My Boots" - Jon Pardi
Producers: Bart Butler, Jon Pardi
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore

"Tin Man" - Miranda Lambert
Producers: Frank Liddell, Eric Masse, Glenn Worf
Mix Engineer: Eric Masse

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))

The Breaker - Little Big Town
Producer: Jay Joyce

From A Room: Volume 1 - Chris Stapleton - WINNER
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton

Heart Break - Lady Antebellum
Producer: busbee

The NASHVILLE Sound - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Producer: Dave Cobb

The Weight of These Wings - Miranda Lambert
Producers: Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf, Eric Masse

SONG OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))

"Better Man" - WINNER
Songwriter: Taylor Swift

"Blue Ain't Your Color"
Songwriters: Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, Steven Lee Olsen

"Body Like A Back Road"
Songwriters: Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

"Dirt On My Boots"
Songwriters: Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley

"Tin Man"
Songwriters: Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert -WINNER
Reba McEntire
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton - WINNER
Keith Urban

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town - WINNER
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne -WINNER
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
LOCASH
Maddie & Tae

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to each Artist)

"Craving You" - Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris
"Funny How Time Slips Away" - Glen Campbell with Willie Nelson - WINNER
"Kill A Word" - Eric Church featuring Rhiannon Giddens
"Setting the World on Fire" - Kenny Chesney with P!nk
"Speak to a Girl" - Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jerry Douglas (Dobro)
Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar)
Dann Huff (Guitar)
Mac McAnally (Guitar) - WINNER
Derek Wells (Guitar)

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director(s))

"Better Man" - Little Big Town
Directors: Becky Fluke and Reid Long

"Blue Ain't Your Color" - Keith Urban
Director: Carter Smith

"Craving You" - Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris
Director: TK McKamy

"It Ain't My Fault" - Brothers Osborne - WINNER
Directors: Wes Edwards and Ryan Silver

"Vice" - Miranda Lambert
Director: Trey Fanjoy

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Lauren Alaina
Luke Combs
Old Dominion
Jon Pardi - WINNER
Brett Young

For more information, visit CMAawards.com.

Photo Credit: Donn Jones/CMA

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