Morgan Wallen makes a huge comeback after being removed from last year’s ACM ballot over his racial slur scandal.
Morgan Wallen won the album of the year award at the ACM Awards here on Monday for his album “Dangerous: the double album”
ACM awards were held at the Allegiant stadium, Las Vegas, and were streamed live on the online streaming service, Amazon Prime Video.
Morgan Wallen made no reference to his racial slur scandal and also didn’t address the issue of him being absent from a number of award functions in the recent past.
Wallen was ecstatic and enthusiastically finished his speech by thanking his followers and fans and dedicating the award to his son saying “to my son, this award will signify that his daddy is a fighter.”
The Academy of Country Music Awards was hosted by Dolly Parton along with Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen. The hosts celebrated the return of the award function in Las Vegas after being hosted in Nashville for the past two years.
Dolly and other singers sang Faith Hill’s “Let’s go to Vegas” and Elvis Presley’s “Viva Las Vegas” to get the night started.
Miranda Lambert won the top award of the year – Entertainer of the year. She had been losing the race for the past five years, this time she won but sadly she was not present in Las Vegas to accept the prestigious award.
“I cannot believe I’m not there to celebrate,” Lambert said in a video message, “it’s the first time I’ve missed the ACMs in 17 years. I’ve been waiting a long time for this”
There were back-to-back performances from a number of artists for straight 35 minutes creating an atmosphere like a concert rather than an award show.
At the closing stages of the function, Kelly Clarkson sang a heartfelt “I will always love you” paying a tribute to the legendary Dolly Parton who also hosted the show. This song was written and sung by Dolly Parton herself.
Kelly Clarkson exclaimed, “I love you Dolly Parton” after finishing the song. Parton replied to the gesture stating “I have always loved her.”
The award ceremony was closed by Brittney Spencer and brothers Osbornes as they performed on Nancy Sinatra’s “These boots are made for walking.”
