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 Chris Stapleton picked up four
awards including Male Vocalist of the Year, Luke
Combs took home the top Entertainer of the Year
award, and "I Hope You're Happy Now" singer
Carly Pearce won Female Vocalist of the Year.
Jennifer Hudson, who portrayed Aretha Franklin
in the movie "Respect", performed a rousing
tribute to the legendary vocalist to celebrate
her connection to country music, while Eric
Church gave a blistering performance of
country-rock track "Heart on Fire", which ended
with the stage floor bracketed in rows of
flames.
The evening marked a pandemic-era comeback after
last year's CMAs, when there was no traditional
red carpet, only some guests were allowed inside
the venue and multiple performers dropped out
due to positive COVID-19 cases.
This year, the awards relished the return of
spectators at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
"We have fans!" cheered Luke Bryan, the
ceremony's host.
The show took on a range of issues from gender
and racial equality to LGBT acceptance.
"You can't be a dude doing all these intros
yourself in 2021!" artist Elle King told Bryan
as she came on to introduce Zac Brown Band.
"This isn't the 1994 CMAs."
New Artist of the Year nominee Mickey Guyton
joined Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards for
an empowering performance of Guyton's song,
"Love My Hair". Faith Fennidy, a Black girl sent
home from her Louisiana school in 2018 because
her braids were not allowed by school policy,
introduced the trio.
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 "This next artist created this
song to make sure girls like me feel seen and
loved," Fennidy said. "And that's how you turn
something very painful into something very
positive."
Singer T.J. Osborne, who with his brother John
won Vocal Duo of the Year for the fourth time,
spoke onstage about coming out as gay. "I always
felt, truthfully felt, that it would never be
possible because of my sexuality to be here," he
said.
The New Artist of the Year award went to recent
"Dancing With the Stars" contestant Jimmie
Allen, the Delaware native speaking through
tears about the adversity he faced after moving
to Nashville to make it as a singer.
"After 10 years of being here, living in my car,
living in a trailer, working every job, this is
amazing," he said.
(Reporting by Ben Kellerman; Editing by Karishma
Singh)
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