Watch Ashley McBryde Cover “Help Me Make It Through The Night” For CMAs’ Kris Kristofferson Tribute

Who needs the Grammys? Country music has been pretty much dominating the music business for the past few years, so the annual Country Music Association Awards broadcast feels like the biggest game in town. Last night, the star-studded CMAs show went down, broadcasting live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The evening’s hosts were Peyton Manning, Luke Bryan, and last year’s Entertainer Of The Year Lainey Wilson. In one of the night’s highlights, one of the best artists in present-day country paid tribute to all-time songwriting great Kris Kristofferson, who passed away in September.

Midway through the night, Ashley McBryde sang “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” the desperately horny song that Kris Kristofferson wrote and released in 1970. That same year, Sammi Smith covered the song, and her version became a huge hit on both the country and pop charts. McBryde brought a lot of gravitas to her version. Check it out below.

The show also featured the return of Kacey Musgraves, who hasn’t exactly been a country artist in a while but who still fits somewhere in the Nashville whole. She did a lovely solo-acoustic version of “The Architect,” one of the best songs from her recent album Deeper Well.

Newly confirmed Coachella headliner Post Malone opened the show, and he stayed in respectful-guest mode. Posty teamed up with CMA fixture Chris Stapleton, and they sang their relatively traditional duet “California Sober.” Post Malone can’t sing like Chris Stapleton, so he stayed out of the man’s way. He wore a cowboy hat and a bolo tie, and he looked pretty cool.

Chris Stapleton was one of the night’s big winners. He took home Male Vocalist Of The Year, as well as Single Of The Year and Song Of The Year for “White Horse.” Stapleton also took part in an all-star salute to Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award honoree George Strait, and he sang his own ballad “What Am I Gonna Do.”

Shaboozey, whose country crossover smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is still sitting atop the Hot 100 and threatening to break the “Old Town Road” chart-longevity record, didn’t win anything last night, despite multiple nominations. But Shaboozey did get a performance spot on the show, doing a medley of “Highway” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”

Noah Kahan is not a country artist, but he was in the house, too. He and country star Kelsea Ballerini sang their duet “Cowboys Cry Too.” Fellow folk-revival type Teddy Swims was also on the show. He sang “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Woman” and his own hit “Lose Control” with Thomas Rhett, but I’m not posting that one.

Eric Church had full string and horn sections, as well as gospel-style backup singers, behind him when he sang the recent benefit single “Darkest Hour.”

Host Lainey Wilson performed and won Female Vocalist Of The Year, while Cody Johnson got Album Of The Year for Leather and Megan Maroney scored Best New Artist. Jamey Johnson took part in the George Strait tribute just a few days after getting arrested for weed and speeding. The CMAs haven’t been quite sure what to do with Morgan Wallen, who’s clearly the biggest artist in America but who keeps doing things that embarrass the country establishment. This year, Wallen won Entertainer Of The Year, the night’s biggest prize, for the first time. He didn’t show up to accept it.