Watch Luke Combs’ Reaction to Stapleton Cleaning Up at the CMAs

Sometimes, when an artist wins a big award, their fellow nominees react with gracious congratulations. Other times, they can’t hide their envy.

But when Chris Stapleton won Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2024 CMA Awards on Wednesday night (Nov. 20), Luke Combs‘ reaction was pure, dumbfounded shock.

As Stapleton left his seat and marched up to the stage to claim his trophy, an announcer read over the loudspeaker that it was his eighth time winning Male Vocalist. At the same time, the camera panned over Combs — who was also nominated — and caught the singer saying something to his wife Nicole.

“His EIGHTH?!” Combs appears to say, with an astounded look on his face.

Combs’ reaction pretty much says it all. For the past decade, the Male Vocalist category at the CMAs has been Stapleton’s, full stop. He’s been nominated every year since 2015 and only lost the trophy twice.

Stapleton had an extremely busy night at the CMAs on Wednesday. He won three categories, including both artist and co-producer wins in the Single of the Year category, bringing his total haul from the awards show to four trophies. He also performed twice.

Read More: Chris Stapleton Was a Total Dad While Accepting His Male Vocalist Trophy

Meanwhile, Combs — who was nominated in four categories — came away empty-handed at the end of the awards show, though he did give one of the night’s most memorable performances: A fiery rendition of “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.”

Another much-nominated star who didn’t win any trophies on Wednesday night was Jelly Roll, who, along with Combs, lost out to Stapleton in the Male Vocalist of the Year category.

The clip that shows Combs’ reaction also shows Jelly congratulating Stapleton on his win. Jelly shakes the singer’s hand and claps him on the back as he’s making his way up to the stage.