The biggest stars in country music were out in force on Monday evening at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in .

The show gave its most prestigious award, Entertainer of the Year, to , who wasn't able to attend in person as she has been working overseas, but joined the show virtually to make her acceptance speech. 

In a shock moment earlier in the night, Morgan Wallen picked up the high-profile Album of the Year award for Dangerous: The Double Album, despite being suspended from his label and torn apart online last year after a video emerged of him shouting the N-word.    

Virtual win: Miranda Lambert won Entertainer of the Year on Monday at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, but she accepted remotely because she was working 'overseas'

After host Dolly Parton announced Miranda's award she said in her acceptance speech: 'Thank you so much to the country music family for embracing me'.

Clad in a Fleetwood Mac T-shirt, the songstress concluded her brief thanks with words of encouragement for other women in the music industry. 

'This one goes out to all the singer–songwriter girls out there who are putting their blood, sweat and tears into their guitar strings.

'

Earlier in the evening, Morgan, 28, picked up the high-profile Album of the Year award, seeming to signal that Academy voters weren't fazed by his scandal last year, when he was caught shouting the N-word on camera.  

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

He also thanked those who have shown him 'grace' and concluded with a message for his fans: 'Thank you, thank you, thank you

Looking past it? Morgan Wallen won Album of the Year for Dangerous: The Double Album, despite his N-word scandal last year

Wallen was initially banned from country music stations for his N-word scandal, and his label suspended him, but fans seemed to support Wallen even more after his racist behavior was caught on camera. 

Dangerous, his second album, was released just under a month before the scandal broke, but after it did, sales for his album increased by more than 1000 percent, according to .

It eventually became the most popular album among all genres for 2021. 

Months after the controversy, Morgan admitted he hadn't bothered to consider whether there was a 'race problem in country music overall' during an interview with Michael Strahan for Good Morning America.

Morgan was banned from last year's ACM Awards, and other country award shows also wouldn't let him in the door, but his banishment seems to have ended in 2022.

His fellow musicians seemed to welcome him back with open arms as well, as he was seen hugging and shaking hands with audience members at the show.