Bryan's presence, though, was felt throughout the evening. And in one of the show's highlights, the superstar singer was additionally honored with Lady Antebellum performed a moving version of Bryan's recent No. 1 hit "Drink a Beer."

The three Lady A bandmates were joined for the song by Chris Stapleton, a powerful vocalist himself ("one of the best singers in the entire universe," Charles Kelley said when introducing him) who cowrote "Drink a Beer" and sang on Bryan's hit version of the song.