Leave it to Chris Stapleton to wax philosophical about country music awards shows.
Of course, he does know a thing or two about the topic, since he’s the most-nominated male artist at Sunday’s 61st ACMs, with a chance to take home six more trophies.
“These things are fantastic things to win, but when you get nominated or invited to these kinda parties, in my estimation, you’ve already won and you’ve already gotten to be far beyond [what] anybody who’s a musician could ever dream of getting to do,” he reflects.
“As far as thinkin’ about goin’ into somethin’,” he adds, “I’m always genuinely surprised to win anything and I’m always grateful for it.”
So where does Stapleton keep his impressive trophy collection?
“Some of ’em, we put ’em out on the road in the VIP section for the fans to see,” he answers. “That’s who they belong to. … I don’t feel like they really belong to me. I don’t have ‘em in my house or anything like that. I don’t sit around making a shrine to myself or anything.”
“We try to make sure that the fans get to see ‘em and enjoy ‘em as much as possible. Some of ‘em are in the Country Music Hall of Fame and places where they can be enjoyed by the people that got me to where I could earn them.”
Stapleton’s one of the rare ACM Triple Crown winners, having picked up new male, male and entertainer to earn the honor.
He could add his sixth male artist honor on Sunday, along with potential trophies for “A Song to Sing” with Miranda Lambert.
The 61st Academy of Country Music Awards stream live from Las Vegas Sunday on Prime Video.
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