00:00 And man, I had a lot of dreams.
00:04 This was not one of them."
00:07 The inaugural People's Choice Country Awards were in Nashville on Thursday and it brought
00:11 out the biggest country stars.
00:14 Little Big Town hosted the fan-voted awards show, which is an offshoot of the People's
00:18 Choice Awards, and started the night off with an epic performance.
00:23 Their set was one of several of the night.
00:25 Kate Brown, Kelsey Ballerini, and more shut down the show with their hits.
00:29 Blake Shelton also took the stage for a special tribute to Toby Keith before presenting him
00:33 with the Country Icon of 2023 award.
00:42 Of course, it wouldn't be a Blake speech if he didn't crack some jokes at Toby's expense
00:46 along the way.
00:47 "And I had the nerve, I was so excited to be able to get under his skin.
00:51 I said, 'Man, Toby, if I ever make it big enough one day and I get nominated for some
00:59 awards I hope it's against you.'
01:05 And I swear, Toby looked at me and he said, 'You know why I brought you out on tour with
01:11 me?'
01:12 And I said, 'No.'
01:13 He goes, 'I wanted to prove to this industry that I don't really need an opening act.'"
01:19 Toby's award speech also had some jokes, but he also got sentimental.
01:24 The country star, who underwent treatment for stomach cancer in July, briefly talked
01:28 about what it felt like to be on stage.
01:31 "I bet y'all never thought you'd see me in skinny jeans.
01:37 I want to thank the almighty for allowing me to be here tonight.
01:40 You've been riding shotgun with me for a little while."
01:44 That wasn't the only sentimental speech of the night.
01:46 Wynonna Judd received the Country Champion Award and mentioned her late mother, Naomi
01:50 Judd, in the moving speech.
01:52 "It started there.
01:53 Of course, ten years later she would have to retire and I would go on to make country
01:59 music herstory.
02:01 And thanks to the fans, I didn't give up then.
02:05 I would have another ten years, a second career.
02:08 And then on August the 30th of last year, my mother committed suicide and I went to
02:14 her house.
02:16 And she died there, but we followed the ambulance anyway to the hospital where she was pronounced
02:21 dead.
02:22 And I walked into the room and I held her in my arms and I kissed her on the forehead,
02:26 shut her eyes and said, 'I love you, Mom.'
02:28 And I walked out of that room, went home, got up the next morning and showed up at the
02:33 Country Music Hall of Fame to be inducted into the Hall of Fame."
02:38 The PCCAs didn't just have heartfelt moments, it had some lighthearted standouts too.
02:44 Blake later found himself back on the stage to accept the Social Country Star of 2023,
02:49 and he admitted he never thought he would be taking home that prize.
02:53 "I moved to Nashville in 1994 and man I had a lot of dreams.
03:02 This was not one of them.
03:03 I don't even know what this means, but if the fans want me to have it, I'm damn well
03:04 going to put it on my mantle.
03:05 Thank you so much, country music fans."
03:14 Other big winners of the night, Jelly Roll who took home Male Artist of the Year and
03:17 New Artist of the Year, Laini Wilson also took home several awards including Female
03:21 Artist of the Year.
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