Country singer Chris Stapleton, born in Kentucky, was awarded the Entertainer of the Year at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
The award was presented by co-hosts Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton. Stapleton, known for his humility and "working man's honesty," won the new male artist of the Year award seven years ago.
He has since won three ACM male artist of the Year awards, three Album of the Year awards, and a songwriter of the decade trophy. Stapleton expressed his gratitude in his acceptance speech and said, "By any imaginable metric, I don't deserve this. There are so many other great people in this category. I get up there and try to play music every night. I write songs and make records, and I never thought of myself as someone who would win this award."
He thanked his wife and children, who gave up much of their time for him to pursue his music career.
After the event, Getty Images photographer John Shearer captured Stapleton helping workers clean up the venue. Still dressed in his suit and tie, Stapleton used a leaf blower to clear the confetti that had rained down earlier during his big moment.
The moment was later shared on Stapleton's Instagram account, where he captioned it with a quote from his peer, 2023 ACM female artist of the year Lainey Wilson, "If you're gonna be a dreamer, you better be a doer."
Wilson had said in her acceptance speech, "Everybody in this category didn't just wind up here by happenstance; they have worked their fingers to the bone. They have put the blood, sweat, tears, and years and years into this, made so many sacrifices, missing a lot of weddings, a lot of funerals not that I wanna go to all of them, anyway, but I'm just sayin'."
Wilson added, "Oh my goodness, y'all. For the little girls watching this this right here it stands for hard work. If you're gonna be a dreamer, you better be a doer."
Stapleton's wife and fellow singer, Morgane Stapleton, commented on the photo of the post-awards show cleanup, writing, "Love this so much." The Home Edit account noted, "Chris *literally* cleaned up at the ACMs." Stapleton's humility and willingness to help after his big win has earned him praise from friends, fans, and family.
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