Rapper-turned-country artist Jelly Roll was the big winner at the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday, taking home three prizes for his well-liked confessional songs.
As he expressed gratitude to the country radio industry for its acceptance and gave a shout-out to people who shared his sentiments, the “Son of a Sinner” performer became emotional on stage during the Austin, Texas, performance that was broadcast on CBS.
The Winners List
The Equal Play Award was granted to country music legend and five-time Grammy winner Shania Twain for her work as a “visible and loud advocate” for other viewpoints in the genre.
Lainey Wilson, on the other hand, took home two awards: one for the combined video of the year for “Wait in the Truck,” and another for the female video of the year for “Heart Like a Truck.” The winners are all listed below!
- Video of the year: Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown, for “Thank God”
- Female video of the year: Lainey Wilson, for “Heart Like A Truck”
- Male video of the year: Jelly Roll, for “Son Of A Sinner”
- Group/Duo video of the year: Zac Brown Band, for “Out in the Middle”
- Breakthrough female video of the year: Megan Moroney, for “Tennessee Orange”
- Breakthrough male video of the year: Jelly Roll, for “Son of a Sinner”
- The year’s best collaborative video: HARDY and Lainey Wilson for “wait in the truck.”
- CMT performance of the year: Cody Johnson, for “‘Til You Can’t”
- CMT digital-first performance of the year: Jelly Roll, for “Son of a Sinner”
- CMT equal play: Shania Twain
For the majority of the three-hour performance, collaborations were in the spotlight. “I Want To Know What Love Is,” sung by Wynonna Judd and Ashley McBryde, both Country Music Hall of Famers, was enveloped in heavy fog.
Stevie Ray Vaughn was the late guitarist whom Clark Jr. paid tribute to at the end of his performance. Following the passing of Gary Rossington, the final original member, in March, the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd received a memorial performance.
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Warren Haynes, and Chuck Leavell of the Allman Brothers finished the performance with Paul Rodgers and Cody Johnson on lead vocals and LeAnn Rimes and Judd on support.
