Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Cole Swindell are big winners at ACM Awards

May 12 (UPI) -- Lainey Wilson, whose second studio album Bell Bottom Country, propelled her career forward, is now a winner of four Academy of Country Music Awards, including Album of the Year.

The Louisiana-born singer/songwriter was also named Female Artist of the Year and was presented her award by co-host Dolly Parton.

"I'm up here because of y'all. Because of people like Dolly Parton, paving the way," Wilson said Thursday night. "For the little girls watching this, this [her award] stands for hard work. If you're going to be a dreamer, you better be a do-er."

The show streamed live on Prime Video from the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. It featured banter from Parton and co-host Garth Brooks, including jokes about hall passes and threesomes from Parton and there was a live goat brought onstage.

Chris Stapleton won Entertainer of the Year.

"I am shocked, truly," Stapleton told the audience in his acceptance speech. "By any imaginable metric, I don't deserve this. ... I've never thought of myself as somebody who would win this award."

HARDY also won four awards, including the Music Event award for "Wait in the Truck," his duet with Wilson. The song is about a stranger who avenges a woman who's being abused.

"This was a song about real life," Wilson said. "I didn't want people to relate to this song, but a lot of them do."

Hailey Whitters and Zach Bryan were the male and female winners for Best New Artist. Cole Swindell won both Song of the Year and Single of the Year for "She Had Me At Heads Carolina."

British hitmaker Ed Sheeran made his ACM debut singing "Life Goes On" with Luke Combs.

Sheeran said he and Combs met back in 2018 and have been friends ever since.

Parton, 77, debuted a new song "World on Fire," that she said on the red carpet is from her new rock album Rock Star, set for release later this year.

Other winners included Morgan Wallen as Male Artist of the Year. He was not in attendance because of a vocal injury that has forced him to reschedule tour dates.

You can find the full list of winners here.