Keith Urban picked up the night’s top honor for CMA Entertainer of the Year, an award he’s only won one other time – in 2005 when the show left Nashville for the bright lights of New York City. Keith gave an emotional speech, in which he thanked his family, fans, country radio and team, as well as his late father who passed away a few years ago. “I wish my dad was alive to see this because I think he’s watching over me tonight.”

Backstage, Keith, who was surprised he won, told the press being an entertainer is pretty extraordinary. “It’s an indescribable feeling to get that tonight, because I love playing, I love entertaining, I love putting on shows. I started playing guitar when I was six, so playing, and I came up playing in the clubs – four hours a night, five hours a night, five nights a week. I wasn’t writing songs. I was just schlepping my gear and playing cover tunes and learning my craft. To get to play three or four hours a night of original material is the most extraordinary feeling.”

Keith performed his latest song, “Never Coming Down,” on the show last night, is off the road for the rest of the year, but you can catch him (if you’re Down Under) hosting the ARIA Awards (Australia’s equivalent of the Grammy Awards) November 28th before he returns home to headline Music City’s New Year’s Eve show on December 31st.

THANK YOU!!! • #CMAawards pic.twitter.com/NSkxNT8sXz

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) November 15, 2018