The Academy of Country Music Awards kicked off Thursday night (May 11), highlighting the best the genre has to offer. Among the top categories of the night was Male Artist of the Year featuring nominees, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Kane Brown, Jordan Davis, and Morgan Wallen.
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With Morgan Wallen among the hopefuls, whether or not he would be in attendance was heavy on the minds of fans in the wake of the “Last Night” singer’s doctor-mandated vocal rest.
When host Garth Brooks announced Wallen as the winner, it was revealed he was not present at the show prompting Brooks to accept the award on his behalf.
“Morgan Wallen couldn’t be here tonight,” Brooks said. “We all know what it takes to win this award – to put in all that work. To win it is one thing, to not be here to get it must be killing him. So let’s all celebrate for Morgan Wallen!”
On top of his Male Artist of the Year win, Wallen was also nominated for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award though he lost to Chris Stapleton.
Last month, Wallen disappointed an arena’s worth of fans by canceling his concert last minute due to losing his voice.
“Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, Morgan has lost his voice and is unable to perform tonight,” a message read at the concert. “Therefore, tonight’s show has been canceled. Please make your way safely to the stadium exits. Refunds for tonight’s event will be available at point of purchase.”
Soon after, Wallen announced that he was canceling more shows due to a six-week-long vocal rest.
“What’s going on y’all? I’m just going to get straight to it. I got some bad news from my doctors at the Vanderbilt Voice Center yesterday,” he said in an Instagram video. “After taking ten days of vocal rest, I performed three shows last weekend in Florida, and by the third one, I felt terrible. So, I went in and got scoped yesterday, and they told me I injured my vocal cords and that I have vocal fold trauma.
“Their advice is that I go on vocal rest for six weeks,” he continued. “So, that’s what I’m going to do. They want me to not talk at all, but they said it’s okay if I need to for something like this.”
Wallen has yet to comment on his ACM win.
Photo by Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagic
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