Capitol Nashville’s Luke Bryan kicked off his Grand Ole Opry performances on Tuesday (10/22) with the flip of a switch as part of the 11th annual Opry Goes Pink, helping raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer.

During his show, the four-time Entertainer of the Year was surprised as the first-ever recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade Award for his fourth studio album, Crash My Party. Presented by the ACM’s RAC Clark, the award recognizes an album’s impact on country music and factors in success at radio of singles released, album concept, sales, streaming, ACM Award Recognition, and artist merit, among other things.

“Crash My Party was such a life-changing album for us. We didn’t know it at the time; we were just loving making music for you guys. It blew my mind the love and support we had from the fans,” shared Bryan. “Thank you to my producer Jeff [Stevens] and my record label and management for sharing this experience with me tonight!”

Released in 2013, Crash My Party had the largest sales debut for a male country artist since 2004, and became a four-time platinum selling album with six consecutive #1 single that included, “Crash My Party,” “That’s My Kind of Night,” Drink A Beer,” “Play It Again,” “Roller Coaster,” and “I See You.”

Seen above hoping we don't crash their party are (l-r) KP Entertainment’s Kerri Edwards, ACM President Lori Badgett, AMC VP and Special Awards Committee Co-Chair Chuck Aly, Stevens, UMG Nashville President Cindy Mabe, UMG Nashville Chairman/CEO Mike Dungan, and ACM Interim Executive Director Clark.

Photo by: Chris Hollo