At the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, Chris Stapleton was named Entertainer of the Year, beating out a formidable group of nominees that included Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, and Luke Combs to name a few. In his acceptance speech, Stapleton dedicated the award to his children, adding a personal touch to the occasion.

“Well, I’m shocked — truly. By any imaginable metric I don’t deserve this, but thank you,” said the You Should Probably Leave singer. “There’s so many other great people in this category. I stand up, and I play music. That’s what I try to do every night. I write songs, and I make records.”

He added, “I never thought of myself as somebody who’d win this award. I’m so grateful for each and every person who works so hard to make us able to do what we do — my wife Morgane, thank you.”

“…but I want to say, my kids sitting at home, they give up a lot of my time, a lot of my wife’s time so we can do this,” he said dedicating his honor to his five kids, “This is for them.”

The win comes as a major milestone in Stapleton’s already impressive career, which includes five Grammy Awards, multiple platinum-selling albums, and countless chart-topping hits

The Grammy-winning artist was also nominated for Male Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for You Should Probably Leave and has previously bagged nominations for Entertainer of the Year four times.