To the surprise of absolutely no one, Chris Stapleton won Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2016 ACM Awards.

Stapleton seemed especially humbled by the award this time around. He thanked a series of people he hadn't before, including "some folks that brought me to town" and his current publishers. The camera then panned to his beaming wife, Morgane, as Stapleton said, "I gotta thank my wife — all the time. She makes me sound better and look better than I ever will, the wife."

Stapleton also made sure to thank Jason Aldean, whom he said "played my rock 'n' roll band before his show before it was cool to do that." Still overwhelmed with the win, the singer-songwrter ended the speech by saying, "Thank you for being so kind to me, I really, truly appreciate it."

Earlier in the night, Stapleton took home the prizes for Album of the Year, for Traveller, and Song of the Year, for "Nobody to Blame." His win also set a new precedent for the Male Vocalist of the Year award: In the last decade, Brad PaisleyBlake Shelton and Aldean have had a lock on the category.

Other nominees included the night's co-host, Dierks Bentley; Aldean, who earlier in the night performed his new single, "Lights Come On"; Brett Eldredge; and Eric Church, who performed a stirring version of "Record Year" as well.

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