"God's given me and my band and my crew a lot of great summers and a life of great summers. ... I want to thank my band and everybody out on the road. ... Everybody that's been out on the road the last few years, I love y'all and y'all are part of this. God bless, thank you." -- Kenny Chesney

"I never dreamed when we made this album that we would sell 25 million copies of it. I mean, we haven't yet. But we're very excited about the possibilities now that we've won this. To the fans that bought it. ... To my wife Kim, who said I should thank her first. ... My father, who when I was growing up, used to haul gear. He was no good at music, but he would haul gear in and out of places. ... He has a bad back now, and it's amazing thing that he did all that for me. And Frank, say something quick. They’re going to start that damn music." -- Brad Paisley

"Two years ago, I was sitting at home watching these very awards, watching all these other people win and have the best night of their lives. And I have had so many good times and so many wonderful things happen to me this past year. ... My band, my family, God. Thank you, fans. Everybody that has anything to do with this past year, thank you so much." -- Carrie Underwood

"It took so many people to make this past year be as successful as it was. You all know who you are. They only gave me 40 seconds to talk. ... Thank you, American Idol. Thank you, fans. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know what this means to me. Thank you, God. I love you, Mom and Dad." -- Carrie Underwood

"No one’s been at the receiving end of this stuff more than we have, and very few have -- because we’ve been so lucky and blessed. ... I’ve got to say thank you to the fans and thank you to country radio for playing all our records -- not just us but everybody." -- Ronnie Dunn

"I'm pained not being here with you all tonight. ... To my wife Nicole, I love you, and to my friends and family and to all of the Monkeyville community, for your love and faith, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing you all soon." -- Keith Urban

"My fans, I can’t tell you. Don’t think I don’t realize why I’m here. ... My dad, I love you, and I got your message last night. Thank you for sending that. And last but not least, my lovely wife Norma and my son Bubba. Thank you for all your love and support all the years." -- George Strait

"We've had an amazing year, and we'd just like to thank God for giving us a stage to stand on and to perform on every night. ... Just thanks to the fans for coming out to the shows and for coming back to Nashville for the 40th [annual CMA Awards]." -- Gary LeVox

“Every now and again as a songwriter, you walk into a room with somebody ... and you mumble until midnight, and your co-writer takes those mumblings and puts such talent and finds every angel in that, and a month later you hear a song that is so amazing you can scarcely believe you even had a part of it." -- Craig Wiseman

"A lot of competition out there -- a lot of hot songs really happening … kind of the same theme content and all that. What do you say? Thank you very much." -- Ronnie Dunn

"This guy right here did most of the heavy lifting on that one." -- Kix Brooks

"My mother passed away this year, and she gave me such strength and encouragement throughout the years, and I accept this in her honor." -- Randy Scruggs

Award was presented prior to the telecast.

"I want to dedicate this award to Dolly Parton. I want to thank her so much for raising the bar on a song. Any time Dolly Parton sings a song, it's infinitely better in every way. Thank you, Dolly, wherever you are for being a part of this and giving us another award together." -- Brad Paisley

Award was presented prior to the telecast.

"We were backstage kidding around, 'There's no way!'" -- Ronnie Dunn