Backstage at the 2023 ACM Awards with Lainey Wilson, HARDY, Chris Stapleton and Other Top Winners

HARDY and Lainey Wilson were the leading nominees going into Thursday night’s (May 11) ACM Awards and they were the top winners coming out. Both took home four awards, including music event of the year and visual media of the year for their dark duet, “Wait in the Truck.”

But they were far from the only artists snagging trophies. Cole Swindell was also a multiple winner for his hit, “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” which grabbed both song and single of the year. Ashley Gorley was a double winner, sharing in the song of the year honor, while also being named songwriter of the year. 

The show, which took place at The Star at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, was hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, and aired for the second consecutive year on Amazon’s Prime Video.

The fast-paced, two-hour ceremony featured performances from Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll, Wilson, Hardy, Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood, Ashley McBryde, Miranda Lambert and a slew of other artists. One of the few no-shows was entertainer of the year nominee and male artist of the year winner Morgan Wallen, who earlier this week was ordered by doctors to go on vocal rest and postpone his next six weeks’ worth of shows, including his ACM Awards performance.

From Wilson to HARDY and Swindell to entertainer of the year Chris Stapleton, Brothers Osborne and Old Dominion, many of the winners came backstage to chat with Billboard about their victories and what was coming next for them after a night of celebrating.