Shania Twain tears up while she accepts her CMA "Entertainer of the Year" award

September 23, 1999
Web posted at: 12:36 p.m. EDT (1636 GMT)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- It was ladies' night at the Country Music Association awards on Wednesday night. Shania Twain won best entertainer. The Dixie Chicks picked up three awards of their own. And Dolly Parton was among the veteran musicians inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

"I'm embarrassed that I'm crying, but it's just such an honor," Twain said Wednesday night. Her celebration, she added, would include trying to meet Parton.

Show host Vince Gill cheered Twain on, debunking critics who say her pop-leaning music isn't really country: "Well, Shania, that should shut everybody up," Gill said. "You did it baby."

1999 CMA AWARD WINNERS

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Twain's "Come on Over" release, with 12 million copies sold, is the third best-selling album ever released by a female solo artist.

The Dixie Chicks -- Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Seidel -- won for best vocal group for the second year in a row, and "Wide Open Spaces" was named best single and video.

"This was the first video that captured our personalities," said Dixie Chick Emily Erwin.

Tim McGraw won best male vocalist, and Martina McBride was named best female vocalist.

The Dixie Chicks and video director Thom Oliphant accept the award for music video of the year

Meanwhile, the presence of George Jones was strongly felt, in spite of his absence at the show. Jones boycotted the awards, saying that he had been asked to shorten a performance of his single, "Choices," in which he sings about "living and dying with the choices I've made."

The 67-year-old Jones, who has battled alcohol and drug problems much of his life, nearly died in a car wreck in March and later pleaded guilty to driving while impaired.

The song, nominated for best single, lost in that competition to "Wide Open Spaces." But Alan Jackson, a close friend, closed his own performance of "Pop a Top" with a snippet of "Choices" in support of Jones, bringing the audience at the Grand Ole Opry to their feet.

According to Jackson spokeswoman Kay West, "Alan said that had George Jones died (in the hospital), there would have been a 10-minute tribute to him on the show. But he lived, and they wouldn't give him three minutes."

Jo Dee Messina won the Horizon Award for career progress

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Brooks & Dunn won their eighth straight trophy for best vocal duo. "Thanks, we know you're getting tired of seeing us up here, but we really appreciate you giving it to us again," Ronnie Dunn said.

Dunn and Kix Brooks have won the duo award every year since The Judds ended their 1988-91 domination of it.

In other awards, Jo Dee Messina won the Horizon Award for career progress, and McGraw's "A Place in the Sun" was named best album.

While mainstream country acts did perform during the show -- the Dixie Chicks opened the show, and both Brooks & Dunn and Jackson were also on the roster -- some unusual pairings drew extra attention.

Merle Haggard was joined by pop star Jewel on "That's the Way Love Goes," while pop boy band N'Sync performed with Alabama on "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You."

Conway Twitty and Johnny Bond were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Parton.

"I feel like I died and went to hillbilly heaven," Parton said.

The CMA Awards were broadcast live by CBS from the Grand Ole Opry House. About 6,000 members of the country music industry nominate and select the winners for the CMA Awards.