Chris Stapleton, Jelly Roll, Brooks & Dunn Shine at 2024 CMA Awards; Morgan Wallen Wins Top Honor After dominating the pop and country charts since 2019, Morgan Wallen picked up his first entertainer of the year honor at the 2024 CMA Awards, though he wasn’t there to accept it. The country star beat out last year’s winner, Lainey Wilson, as well as Luke Combs, Jelly Roll and Chris Stapleton, who won multiple honors Wednesday. Jeff Bridges presented the final award of the night, which comes weeks after Wallen earned his first pair of Grammy nominations. Though Wallen missed the show, Stapleton was the big winner: He took home single, song and male vocalist of the year. He also opened the three-hour event alongside Post Malone with their collaboration, “California Sober,” sang “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” with George Strait — who earned the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award — and strummed his guitar while staring at his wife, Morgane Stapleton, as they performed “What Am I Gonna Do.”
