Miranda Lambert was presented with the first award of the night at the 2018 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony and she used her speech to celebrate the women in the audience and watching at home.
"I was so excited and proud when I saw this show was dedicated to these amazing women who've all inspired me," Lambert said. "I'm thrilled to celebrate how hard we work tonight and how much we are a community of women and how we lift each other up and respect each other. I'm so thankful to be here."
Lambert also stressed the importance of women supporting one another in the industry.
"Not a day will go by that I don't honor and lift up other women in this industry and want to work with them and collaborate and I hope they do the same because we have to be there for each other and I feel like we are," she continued.
Read More: Miranda Lambert Shares the Inspiring Advice Dolly Parton Gave Her
This year's 2018 CMT Artists of the Year special celebrated the women of country music. It marks the first year that all honorees are female artists.
Carrie Underwood also addressed her peers in her acceptance speech, saying "You are not here because you are women. You are here because you are dang good."
The event comes at a time when country radio's gender imbalance is a growing matter of concern for both artists and fans.
In a powerful moment of solidarity, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town read a list of over 30 names of female country artists during her acceptance speech, saying that the artists "are there for you to support — and play on the radio if you want to."
Lambert had company on stage for her performance during the event. Her band, the Pistol Annies, opened the show with "Sugar Daddy," the latest release from their upcoming album Interstate Gospel (out Nov. 2). To celebrate the release, the trio will play three shows: the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. on Oct. 25, The Town Hall in New York, N.Y. on Nov. 2 and The Novo in Los Angeles, Calif. on Nov. 7.
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