Morgan Wallen won the top honor at the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards, one year after being banned from the show for saying a racial slur.
The “Sand in My Boots” singer, 28, took home Album of the Year for “Dangerous: The Double Album” Monday night but made no mention of the scandal that nearly derailed his career.
“When I started this album, I was a kid. By the time I put it out, I was a father,” Wallen, who shares an almost 2-year-old son, Indigo, with ex-fiancée Katie Smith, said while accepting the trophy.
“That’s become more important to me than anything else. To my son, this album and this award will signify that his daddy was a fighter, and he chased his dreams and worked hard to make them a reality.”
Wallen also thanked his songwriters, producers and musicians for their help in making the album come to life, saying “the project would not be complete without each of them.”
“I’d also like to thank my good lord and savior Jesus Christ, my family, my friends, my team in Nashville, country radio and everyone who has shown me grace along the way,” he concluded. “Most importantly, I have to address my fans personally and directly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The “Whiskey Glasses” singer dropped his hit album in January 2021, just weeks before he received major backlash when a video surfaced of him saying the N-word during a drunken night out with friends.
Wallen apologized shortly after, saying his language was “unacceptable and inappropriate” and that he wished he “could take it back.”
However, the country star still faced major consequences. His record label, Big Loud, suspended his contract, and iHeart and Cumulus radio stations pulled his music. He was also disqualified from the 2021 ACM and CMT Music Awards and banned from the Billboard Music Awards.
Despite the punishments, Wallen — who also came under fire in 2020 for breaking COVID-19 protocols ahead of his “Saturday Night Live” performance — still managed to score the biggest-selling album of 2021 with “Dangerous.”