Chris Stapleton sweeps the 58th Country Music Association Awards

Country music royalty descended on Nashville last night for the 58th annual CMA Country Music Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan, former NFL star Peyton Manning and singer Lainey Wilson.

Singer Chris Stapleton won three awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year with ‘White Horse’.

However, the biggest award of the night, Entertainer of the Year, went to fellow superstar Morgan Wallen.

Country music has seen a drastic resurgence over the past year, with artists such as Beyoncé embracing the genre in her latest releases.

However, controversy arose during the nominations announcement, which revealed that Beyoncé did not receive a single nomination from the CMA, despite having one of the biggest country hits of the year with ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’, off her chart-topping album Cowboy Carter.

Wallen, who had the most nods going into the ceremony but didn’t attend on the night, took the top prize three years after being suspended by his record label for using a racial slur. The star later apologised and reconciled with the label.

A slew of performances from some of the biggest artists in country music also took place. Post Malone and Chris Stapleton joined forces on stage for a rendition of ‘California Sober’ to open the show. Country music superstar Carrie Underwood surprised fans with a performance of her and Cody Johnson’s track ‘I’m Gonna Love You’.

Other highlights included Megan Moroney receiving the award for Best New Artist, while Cody Johnson won Album of the Year for Leather and co-host Lainey Wilson took home the trophy for Female Vocalist of the Year and Music Video of the Year.