Entertainment Music Country Music Maren Morris Gives Tearful Speech as She Wins 'Meaningful' Song of the Year at 2021 ACM Awards "Song of the year is something that I've just dreamt of," Morris said onstage. "'The Bones,' when I wrote it — I was dating my now husband, [Ryan Hurd], and it was just a song [that I dedicated] to him" By Tomás Mier Tomás Mier Tomás Mier is a former digital music writer at PEOPLE. He left PEOPLE in 2021. People Editorial Guidelines and Darlene Aderoju Darlene Aderoju PEOPLE, Music Writer and Reporter People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 18, 2021 09:16PM EDT When the song is good, the rest don't matter! Maren Morris took home the ACM Award for song of the year on Sunday night with her mega hit "The Bones," which she co-wrote with Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz. The country star, 31, accepted the prize live from the Opry House in Nashville and was emotional as she opened her acceptance speech. "Thank you. This is really bittersweet because I didn't write this by myself and each time I've been so lucky to accept an award for this song, my co-writers Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins have not gotten a chance to say anything." "I so wish they could be here," she continued. "But thank you to the ACMs for keeping us safe. This is so meaningful to me." For Morris, winning the coveted prize is bigger than she imagined when she first released the tune in 2019, she said. Maren Morris. Kevin Mazur/Getty "Song of the year is something that I've just dreamt of for so long and I feel like with this song, with 'The Bones,' when I wrote it — I was dating my now husband [Ryan Hurd] and it was just a song [that I dedicated] to him," she said. "I feel sometimes like songs know you better than you know them at the time," Morris said. "I feel like this song has revealed many new things to me that I didn't know were possible the day I wrote it, and this has just been a hell of a year." She concluded her heartfelt speech, "Hopefully country music and maybe even this song brought you and your family and friends some peace, so thank you so much." Morris is the most-nominated star of the night. She is up for additional wins in the categories of female artist, single and video of the year. Earlier on Sunday night, the hitmaker took the stage with her husband Hurd, 34, to perform their moving duet, "Chasing After You." Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd. Jason Kempin/Getty Check out PEOPLE's full ACM Awards coverage to get the latest news on one of country music's biggest nights. Also nominated in the category with Morris were Miranda Lambert's "Bluebird," Ashley McBryde's "One Night Standards," Old Dominion's "Some People Do" and Chris Stapleton's "Starting Over." The 2021 ACM Awards aired live from Nashville on Sunday from 8-11 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.