The 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony hasn’t even officially begun yet, and Chris Stapleton is already off to a strong start.

The country star won Best Country Song for his hit single “White Horse” in an early victory at the Premiere Ceremony on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 4).

The Grammy for Best Country Song is awarded to the songwriters, so although Stapleton wasn’t there to accept his trophy in person, his co-writer Dan Wilson took the stage to claim his trophy.

“Chris isn’t here so I’m taking two of them home,” Wilson joked during his time onstage.

Wilson, who’s also written songs with acts like the Chicks, Carole King and Adele, went on to thank his family, friends team and the voters at the Grammy Awards.

“My biggest thanks is to Chris for writing with me,” Wilson concluded before he left the stage.

Stapleton beat out several successful songs to win this category: Brandy Clark with “Buried”, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night”, Tyler Childers’ “In Your Love” and Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves were also nominated. The award for Best Country Song is given to the songwriters.
The Best Country Song category marks Stapleton’s second win so far on Sunday night; right before winning this trophy, he also won Best Country Solo Performance (also for “White Horse”). He’s also up in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category with Carly Pearce, for their song “We Don’t Fight Anymore.”

Pearce was also a presenter at the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, and she announced that “White Horse” had won Best Country Song.

“White Horse” was a July 2023 release from Stapleton. It served as the lead single off his fifth studio album Higher. He first wrote the song nearly a decade ago for the movie the Lone Ranger.

The 66th annual Grammy Awards are airing live on Sunday, Feb. 4, from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.