Miranda Lambert has won more Academy of Country Music awards than any other artist, but there was one that she hadn’t won…until Monday night (March 7).
At the end of Monday’s two-hour live stream event, host Dolly Parton announced that Miranda Lambert had won the night’s biggest award: Entertainer of the Year. Miranda beat out Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church and Luke Combs. But, Lambert wasn’t there to receive the award that she had waited her entire career to win.
Lambert delivered her acceptance speech via video where she told the audience that it was her first time to miss the ACM awards in 17 years, a fact that made the “Tin Man” singer sad.
“I cannot believe I’m not there to celebrate. I’m in London. I have shows this week. It’s my first time to miss ACMs in 17 years so my heart’s a little broken, but I’m happy to be where I am,” Lambert said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a really really long time. I actually never thought it would happen.”
Lambert’s prior commitment to appear at the C2C: Country 2 Country Music Festival in Europe kept her from being in attendance at the ACM Awards at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Despite Lambert not being present, her fans and fellow country music friends celebrated on her behalf. Her former collaborator Carrie Underwood (“Somethin’ Bad” from 2014) reacted to Miranda’s win in a post-event press conference, saying:
“It’s always wonderful when, ‘cuz there are so many incredibly talented women in the genre, and Miranda’s long overdue for winning this award,” Underwood told the press after the show. “So I couldn’t be more proud of her as a sister in this genre of music, in this industry. So yeah, I mean there were a lot of incredible females on stage tonight, and I look forward to more of that happening.”
I love everything about this video ❤️?Perfect for #InternationalWomensDay too ???? pic.twitter.com/q8kjEZrjEn
— Pazzy (@WorldWidePaz) March 8, 2022
Watch Miranda Lambert’s virtual acceptance of her Entertainer of the Year award in the clip below.