Jeff Bridges is many things – and “legendary actor” is certainly one of them. Not only did Bridges bring The Dude to life in 1998’s The Big Lebowski, creating one of the most beloved (and imitated) cinematic characters of the last 30 years, but he beautifully portrayed an alcoholic country singer in 2009’s Crazy Heart and won the best actor Oscar for it.
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Shortly after Crazy Heart, Bridges – who used to play around on the guitar with Kris Kristofferson when the two worked together on 1980’s Heaven’s Gate – began taking music more seriously in a professional sense. After performing live a few times and trying his hand at covering some country classics, Bridges recorded his own self-titled album of country music in 2011 with legendary producer T Bone Burnett.
So yes, he’s an actor, a singer and a legend. But it seems that Bridges may not be a particularly attentive listener when it comes to country music today, at least based on his appearance at the 2024 CMA Awards on Wednesday (Nov. 20). While presenting entertainer of the year (the biggest award the Country Music Association gives out) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Bridges announced that Morgan Wallen – one of the most popular artists today in any musical genre — was the winner. But instead of pronouncing Wallen as, well, Wallen, Bridges said “Morgan Waylon” (or perhaps “Morgan Whalen” — maybe he’s been reading Moby-Dick lately).
“Morgan’s not here, man, Morgan couldn’t make it tonight, so I’m gonna accept on his behalf,” Bridges said after bungling the surname pronunciation.
“Let’s hear it for Morgan!” he continued as 2024 CMAs co-hosts Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson rushed the stage to relieve him at that moment with some closing comments and jokes about their bespoke CMA host t-shirts.
Wallen, Waylon. Tomato, tomatoe. Well, you can’t be right all the time, can you? And it’s nothing a white Russian – or a rug that really ties a room together – can’t fix.
