While the co-host and his wife take the top honor of Video of the Year with their duet 'Thank God', Jelly Roll becomes the biggest winner in terms of number with three awards.
- Apr 3, 2023
AceShowbiz - The 2023 CMT Music Awards has handed out the prizes in all categories. At the Sunday, April 2 ceremony, Kane Brown who co-hosted the show with Kelsea Ballerini, came out victorious at the end of the night.
The 29-year-old singer and his wife Katelyn Brown nabbed the coveted award, Video of the Year, with their duet "Thank God". They beat out other strong contenders, including Blake Shelton ("No Body"), Carrie Underwood ("Hate My Heart"), Cody Johnson ("Human"), HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson ("wait in the truck") and Morgan Wallen ("You Proof").
Earlier at the show, the couple delivered a performance of "Thank God". Trading their red carpet outfits for matching black ensembles, they showed off their real chemistry onstage as they belted out the ode for their love.
Winning big in terms of number was Jelly Roll with three awards, including Male Video of the Year and Breakthrough Male Video of the Year for "Son of a Sinner" clip. He also won CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year with his performance of the song from CMT All Access.
Lainey, who led the race with four nominations, took home two awards, one for Female Video of the Year for "Heart Like a Truck" clip. Her second win was from Collaborative Video of the Year category for her collaboration with Zac Brown Band, "wait in the truck".
Zac Brown Band, Megan Moroney and Cody Johnson were among other winners, bagging one award each. Meanwhile, Shania Twain was honored with CMT Equal Play.
Megan Thee Stallion presented Shania with the prize, praising the Canadian songstress for "shatter[ing] ceilings and redefin[ing]... country music and beyond." The raptress said, "I just met her and that's my new bestie. She's been an outspoken ally against every hate of all kind… gender gaps, ageism, impacting inequalities against the LGBTQ+ community and more. She's an inspiration to me and millions of others."
Shania started her acceptance speech with a reference to her 1997 hit "Man! I Feel Like a Woman". She said that when she wrote the now-classic, she "had no idea at the time that it would become an undercurrent of a decades-long career."
"It's amazing how just one statement can empower so many. And 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman' has been adopted by an array of fantastic communities all around the world and become such a genuine path of power, which brings me so much joy," she continued. "Thank you to CMT for pushing the Equal Play agenda and always supporting me."
She went on promising to "continue to champion the many outstanding country artists that are not currently played… streamed, toured or awarded at the level they deserve."
"I believe in an all-inclusive country music," she added. "This is a genre of music with a rich history that raised and nurtured my own songwriting and performance and recording career from childhood. Currently, the industry standard does a real disservice to this."
Shania, Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Wynonna Judd, Ashley McBryde, Alanis Morissette, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Gwen Stefani were among performers at the event.
Full Winner List of the 2023 CMT Music Awards
- Video of the Year: Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown - "Thank God"
- Female Video of the Year: Lainey Wilson - "Heart Like a Truck"
- Male Video of the Year: Jelly Roll - "Son of a Sinner"
- Group/Duo Video of the Year: Zac Brown Band - "Out in the Middle"
- Breakthrough Female Video of the Year: Megan Moroney - "Tennessee Orange"
- Breakthrough Male Video of the Year: Jelly Roll - "Son of a Sinner"
- Collaborative Video of the Year: HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson - "wait in the truck"
- CMT Performance of the Year: Cody Johnson - " 'Til You Can't" (from 2022 CMT Music Awards)
- CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year: Jelly Roll - "Son of a Sinner" (from CMT All Access)
- CMT Equal Play: Shania Twain
