Chris Stapleton has won the ACM Award for Album of the Year, for his latest Higher album, released in November.
“What an honor, thank you,” Stapleton said. “Thank you to the Academy, thank you to my producer, my lovely wife, Morgane, and Dave Cobb, and all the guys in the band who have been with me so long making these records. We do our best to make an album that’s a complete body of work all the time, and hopefully that’s what this means.”
Morgane, who performs regularly with her husband, co-produced Higher with Stapleton and Cobb.
“I am so proud every day to get to work with the love of my life,” she said. “It means so much to me to be recognized alongside of him. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”
.@ChrisStapleton just won Album of the Year for Higher! 🏆 #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/Wo6O5f8eEi
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) May 17, 2024
Stapleton previously praised Morgane, not only for her role as a wife and mother to their five children, but for the way she helps in every aspect of his career.
“From a work standpoint, we’re a married couple. And like anybody else, we might be getting on each other’s nerves or something,” Stapleton said to Cowboys & Indians. “But if we’re away from each other for more than two days — because we do work, live, and raise children together — on the rare occasion we’re apart, we’re sort of like teenagers. We’re like, ‘I miss you,’ and, ‘I miss you too.’ And that’s a really sweet and wonderful thing.”
Higher is Stapleton’s fifth studio album, and his first since Starting Over was released in 2020.
“Whenever we’re releasing new music, we don’t have a specific ritual really, but I think there’s a little bit of apprehension, a little bit of excitement mixed together wondering how fans will react, really,” Stapleton told his record label. “I think that’s the main thing going on in our heads when we put something out is we hope whatever we’ve done will be something that people will gravitate to and enjoy.”
Higher includes Stapleton’s latest single, “Think I’m In Love With You,” a song he wrote by himself for the record.
“When we were recording ‘Think I’m In Love With You,’ we were making sure that we were all playing as quietly as possible, and I think that really informs the song,” Stapleton said.
Stapleton is spending some of the next few months on the road, serving as the opening for George Strait on another run of stadium shows. Find all of Stapleton’s music and upcoming shows at ChrisStapleton.com.
