Winners of 2016 ASCAP Country Music Awards Revealed

On Halloween, ASCAP presented a night of incredible treats at our 54th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The event brought out a who's who of country hitmakers and luminaries. Bluegrass and country pioneer Ricky Skaggs was honored in song before receiving the ASCAP Founders Award. Garth Brooks performed "Highway 40 Blues" with Sam Bush and Justin Moses; Alison Krauss, with Jamey Johnson and Suzanne and Sidney Cox of the Cox Family, performed "Waitin' for the Sun to Shine;" and Peter Frampton and Gordon Kennedy performed "My Cup Runneth Over."

Watch a recap of the awards below:

Hit songwriter Ashley Gorley took home ASCAP Country Music Songwriter of the Year and the audience was treated to a Trace Adkins performance of the Gorley #1 hit, "You're Gonna Miss This." University of Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari surprised Gorley, a devoted UK fan, with remarks and presented him with the award on stage.

Breakout country star Chris Stapleton was honored with the ASCAP Vanguard Award. TJ and John Osborne, aka Brothers Osborne, performed "Stay a Little Longer," which received Song of the Year. The star-studded audience enjoyed performances of ASCAP's other top 5 country music songs of the year: "I'm Comin' Over" by songwriter Corey Crowder and recording artist Chris Young; "Save It for a Rainy Day" by songwriters Matthew Ramsey and Brad Tursi; "Gonna" by songwriter Craig Wiseman with Luke Laird; and "Nothin' Like You" by Dan + Shay and songwriters Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley. We presented the ASCAP Publisher of the Year Award to Warner/Chappell Music Publishing for publishing 18 of the most-performed ASCAP country songs of 2015.

ASCAP honored iHeart Radio personality Bobby Bones with its Partners in Music Award, and rising country star Kelsea Ballerini kicked off the evening with a performance of her award-winning song, "Love Me Like You Mean It."

Click here for a full list of our winners and check out more highlights below.

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