Cody Johnson has a new trophy to add to his collection! The Texan won the CMT Music Award for Performance of the Year, for his performance of “‘Til You Can’t,” from last year’s CMT Music Awards

“Once again, I didn’t prepare anything to say. I will say this: tonight it’s great to be in my home state of Texas,” Johnson said. “So before I thank Warner Music Nashville, before I thank my band, my crew — ’cause this is Performance of the Year — my band and crew, the Rockin’ CJB from Texas have worked their tail off for this.

“Before I do the single speech that most people do, is I would like for everybody here at once, are you having fun at the CMT Awards?” he continued. “Make some noise. That’s what a performance is about, and that’s what my performance will stay about, is your pleasure. Thank you so much. God bless you.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8dNZwQ_rdM

“‘Til You Can’t,” written by Matthew J. Rogers and Ben Stennism became Johnson’s first No. 1 hit. The song is from Johnson’s Human: The Double Album, released last fall.

“We were like, ’This needs to be a message,’” Johnson said, via CMT, of the song. “If you’ve got a chance, take the chance. Go out and chase your dreams until you can’t. Every one of us, you try not to think about it every day, but we all have an expiration date. From now until that expiration date, it’s about chase your dreams, take your chance, tell people you love that you love them. It turned into this happy, anthemic experience.”

When he recorded “‘Til You Can’t,” Johnson knew the song was powerful, but he had no idea how much it would change his entire life and career.

“The way we we recorded ”Til You Can’t’ was, we weren’t chasing a radio hit,” Johnson explained. “We weren’t trying to win awards — we were just trying to create music that moves people and tell a story that changes people’s lives. So when we go into the next one — I believe this, I always have and always will — go into the studio and let the song be what it wants to be … If it needs to be slow and sad, let it be slow and sad. If it needs to be upbeat and inspiring, let it be that.”

Johnson recently revealed he recorded a duet with Carrie Underwood for his upcoming new album.

“I actually just recorded a duet with her yesterday for my new album coming out,” Johnson revealed to CMT‘s Cody Alan. “And getting to know her — man, she’s such a pro and everybody that she surrounds herself with are all very professional, as well. So I don’t mean this to sound bad, but it’s kind of hard to compete with that.”

Photo Credit: Catherine Powell/Getty for CMT