Thomas Rhett doesn’t mind at all that he is sharing the 2020 ACM Award for Entertainer of the Year with Carrie Underwood. In fact, in some ways, having the “Cry Pretty” singer be recognized with him makes the honor that much more meaningful.

“It truly has been a dream of mine since day one,” Thomas shared at a virtual press conference backstage after his historic win. “There’s countless times where my manager Virginia has asked me, ‘What are your goals for the next five years? What are your goals for the next ten years?’ Winning Entertainer of the Year was definitely was at the top, number one on the list. Tonight, being here at the Opry, getting to hear an idol of mine, Keith Urban, mention my name along with Carrie Underwood, it made me feel like I’m not the new guy anymore, if that makes any sense.

“Just being such a huge fan of Carrie since I can remember — since I was 15 or 16 years old, and winning such an iconic award with her, it just solidified a lot of things for me,” he continued. “I’m just so grateful to the band, and the crew. It’s such a weird year not to work, and to be super uncertain about a lot of stuff. But I think this was a big pat on the back just for the amount of hours we put in rehearsing, and just improvising, and making our show the best that it could possibly be.”

Winning the ACM Award with Carrie for Entertainer of the Year is part of what has been an already highly  unusual year for Thomas.

“It’s been such a weird year,” Thomas reflected. “I mean, obviously I’m talking to all of you on a conference call right now. But when I was standing backstage and I was listening to Keith call the names, I was just like, ‘There’s no way. There’s no way.’ And when he said there was a tie, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing.’ First time in ACM history that anyone has ever tied for Entertainer of the Year. And for me to get to tie this award with Carrie Underwood is just mind-blowing. I’ve worked so hard to even be thought of for the nomination in this category.

“With our band and our crew, our management, everybody, we’ve just put so many countless hours in, rehearsing and making our show as entertaining as it can possibly be,” he added. “So tonight, to get to share that with Carrie is absolutely a dream come true.”

See the complete list of winners here.