Nashville, Tenn., was the place to be on June 6 as the 2018 CMT Awards took over Music City, bringing the brightest stars in country music together under one roof. The evening's big winners included Blake Shelton, who took home two awards, and Carrie Underwood, who held court as the all-time leader by winning her 18th CMT Award with her win for Female Video Of The Year for "The Champion" featuring Ludacris.
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Shelton's pair of awards came for his video for "I'll Name The Dogs," which earned him both Male Video Of The Year and the coveted Video Of Year honors. The singer also regaled the Nashville crowd with a performance of "Turn Me On" early in the night, just after a dazzling opening number by Little Big Town.
Speaking of Little Big Town, the group pulled double-duty as hosts of the show and performers, opening the evening with a confetti-drenched rendition of "Summer Fever," marking the first time the GRAMMY winners had performed their new single live.
In another memorable moment, Florida Georgia Line debuted their song "Simple" in an aptly stripped-down backyard set. The duo also won the award for CMT Performance Of The Year for their "CMT Crossroads" delivery of "Everybody" with the Backstreet Boys, who added some pop flair to the night by singing their new song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart."
Sam Hunt, Chris Stapleton, Kelsea Ballerini, and Kelly Clarkson also performed, and Sugarland took advantage of a commercial break to tease their new video for "Babe" featuring a redheaded Taylor Swift. The video drops June 9.
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Landing other notable wins, rising star Carly Pearce took home the award for Breakthrough Video Of The Year for her debut single, "Every Little Thing," while Dan + Shay scored Duo Video Of The Year honors for "Tequila," the lead single from their upcoming self-titled sophomore album, due out June 22.
The evening closed with a special "troublemakers" sing-along with Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Charles Kelly, and Darius Rucker, performing their version of the raucous Drivin N Cryin song "Straight To Hell."
For a full list of winners from the 2018 CMT Awards, head to the network's website.
