ACM Awards: Morgan Wallen wins Album of the Year

Four months ago, Morgan Wallen was barred from attending a major country music awards show. On Monday night, he took the stage at another ceremony and accepted one of the night's biggest awards.

Wallen's "Dangerous: The Double Album" was named Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, which streamed exclusively on Amazon's Prime Video.

Related: ACM Awards merge country music's traditions and digital evolution

Aside from three chart-driven wins at last year's Billboard Music Awards, this marks the first major awards win for Wallen since February of 2021, when he was filmed using a racial slur outside of his Nashville home. The incident led to him being stripped of eligibility at that year's ACM Awards.

He was nominated in recording-based categories at the CMA Awards last November, but the show's producers stated that he was not invited to the ceremony, and Wallen didn't attend.

"When I started this album, I was a kid. By the time I put it out, I was a father. And that's become more important to me than anything else," Wallen said.

"To my son, this album and this award will signify that his daddy was a fighter. And that he chases dreams and worked hard to make them a reality."

In addition to acknowledging collaborators, faith, family, friends, his Nashville team and country radio, Wallen thanked "everyone who has shown me grace along the way."

Wallen was also nominated for Male Artist of the Year at Monday's show, but lost in the category to Chris Stapleton

After spending a few months out of the public eye (and entering a rehab program), Wallen began returning to the spotlight last summer. He's currently on an arena tour that will bring him to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena for a three-night stand on March 16. 17 and 18.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Morgan Wallen wins Album of the Year at ACM Awards