The 52nd annual Country Music Association Awards (CMA Awards) took place Wednesday night, but one huge singer was notably absent from the festivities.
Kenny Chesney, 50, was nowhere to be found. (RELATED: CMA Ratings Hit Record Low. The Numbers Are Shocking)
The “American Kids” singer, who was up for the “Entertainer Of The Year” and “Musical Event Of The Year” (for “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”) awards, skipped the show due to a sudden death in the family. No further details about the tragedy are available at this time.
Ahead of the glitzy event, the Country Music Association Twitter account informed its over 750,000 followers that Chesney would not be in attendance.
CMA Musical Event of the Year winner & Entertainer of the Year nominee @KennyChesney will be unable to appear on tonight’s telecast due to a death in the family.
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 14, 2018
Chesney did not address the news on his personal Twitter account, but he did thank his co-performer David Lee Murphy for his hard work on “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” which took home the Musical Event Of The Year award.
Sometimes you hear songs & they just feel good. Occasionally one that feels good says something that people need to hear. That’s how I felt about Everything’s Gonna Be Alright when I heard it. Proud to have been part of this with my friend @davidleemurphy. #musicaleventoftheyear pic.twitter.com/X7l6esqcXq
— Kenny Chesney (@kennychesney) November 14, 2018
Australian singer Keith Urban took home the Entertainer Of The Year award.