Co-hosts Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley took a walk down memory lane with Chris Stapleton Sunday night during the Academy of Country Music Awards.
In their monologue, Bryan and Bentley moderated a round-robin between some of country’s biggest stars as they tried to decide who truly helped Stapleton get his career kickstarted.
Jason Aldean was quick to point out he included a Stapleton co-write on his last album (“Too Fast” on Old Boots, New Dirt).
Thomas Rhett jumped up to throw in his contribution from his latest album (Tangled Up) as well, “Crash and Burn”. Rhett teased that the flavorful No. 1 single not only helped Stapleton’s career grow but also his bank account.
As other artists popped up to share their connection with country music’s hottest new male vocalist, Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum also mentioned he would be forming a Stapleton song (“Lonely Girl”) during the ACM broadcast.
Carrie Underwood got the final joke of the night in as she stood up with a Chris Stapleton t-shirt she claimed to have had since 1978.
"I've basically been a walking billboard for him since 1978,” Underwood said.
The only problem was that is the year Stapleton was born.
Stapleton picked up six wins including New Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year (Traveler), Male Vocalist of the Year, and Song of the Year (“Nobody to Blame”).
