Lainey Wilson continued to prove that she’s country music’s next superstar as she accepted the win for Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country at the 2023 ACM Awards.
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Wilson was up against Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up, Miranda Lambert’s Palomino, Mr. Saturday Night by Jon Pardi and Ashley McBryde’s Lindeville for one of the night’s top prizes. Keith Urban introduced the award by noting, “I love this category,” not only for how it rewards the artists’ hard work but all of the producers, engineers and other team members who make it all happen.”
After opening up the envelope, Urban sang, And the ACM Award goes to, as he announced Wilson’s name. The peers around her erupted in applause, Urban bowing to Wilson as she ascended the stage to accept the award.
“Let me collect my thoughts,” she said while trying to catch her breath, as moments prior she took the stage for an energetic performance of “Grease.” “I feel so honored,” she continued, thanking the Academy of Country Music and album producer Jay Joyce while crediting all of her co-writers for helping her tell her story. “Y’all have helped me find what Bell Bottom Country even sounds like. Bell Bottom Country has been a labor of love.”
She got to the heart of the award when she shared how fans have told her this album has “changed their life.”
“Writing these songs for this album saved mine,” she professed before ending her speech by reciting part of her Bell Bottom Country mission statement: “Bell Bottom Country is country with a flare. It’s a state of mind and I’m always there. It could be how you were raised or the place you call home. But it’s writing a crazy story and making it your own. With a little more love and a lot less hatin,’ be who you want to be, ’cause everybody else is taken.”
Album of the Year made for Wilson’s fourth win of the night out of a total of six nominations. She also won Female Artist of the Year, Music Event of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for the video for her and HARDY’s collaborative hit, “Wait in the Truck.” She was also nominated for Single of the Year for “Heart Like a Truck” and Song of the Year for “Wait in the Truck.”
Check out all of the ACM Awards winners HERE.
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
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