Luke Bryan Misses 'CMT Artists of the Year' Ceremony After Family Death, Lady Antebellum Pays Tribute with 'Drink a Beer' [WATCH]

Luke Bryan suffered a tough loss last week after his brother-in-law passed away at the age of 46. Ben Lee Cheshire was married to Bryan's sister Kelly, who died in 2007. The country community gathered Tuesday night (December 2) for the CMT Artists of the Year ceremony to honor this year's biggest stars, but Bryan was home in Georgia with his family. Honorees Jason Aldean and Keith Urban mentioned Bryan throughout the night, and Lady Antebellum played a touching tribute for the grieving superstar with his hit "Drink a Beer."

"I want to send my love and prayers out to Luke and all your family tonight too, brother. You're right here tonight, brother," Urban said while accepting his award, Taste of Country notes.

Lady A, joined by "Drink a Beer" scribe Chris Stapleton, brought the room full of country superstars to tears with their rendition of the Crash My Party ballad. Bryan has said before that he connects the tune to the passing of his sister, so it was a fitting tribute for Cheshire. Check out a short clip below via CMT.

"That was amazing. Truly. Thank you Charles, Dave, Hillary and Chris! Beautiful!!! Thank you fans for your love," Bryan tweeted after the performance.

Miranda Lambert and Florida Georgia Line were also among the honorees while Merle Haggard took home the Artist of a Lifetime award.

Bryan's award was well-deserved after the monster year he had. Crash My Party came out last year, but some of the album's best cuts were reserved for 2014. "Play It Again," "I See You" and "Roller Coaster" all dominated country charts and radio this year. He's racked up a bunch of honors already including "Favorite Country Male Artist" for the American Music Awards, "Entertainer of the Year" for the Country Music Association Awards, and "Top Country Artist/Album" for the Billboard music awards.

The singer has a lot of steam going into this year's Grammys.

Tags

Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Merle Haggard, Lady Antebellum