The 2018 Artist of the Year awards honored only female country artists for the first time in history.
As Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild accepted her award at CMT’s Artist of the Year Awards, she pulled out her phone. She promised she wasn’t being rude–she just didn’t want to forget any one of the 35 female artists and acts she listed during the award show in late October that honored an all-female slate of musicians for the first time this year.
The moment, labeled one of the most powerful 45-seconds of an award show this year, was a plea for more support and radio play for country’s female stars.