Kane brown gave a short, emotional, tear-jerking speech at the CMT Artists of the Year event on Wednesday (October 16) in which he dedicated his award to his drummer, Kenny Dixon, who died in a car crash on October 12.

Brown accepted the award from Chris young and then took to the stage visibly shaking with emotion. “Thank you all very much. I want to dedicate this to our drummer Kenny, ” he said, his voice choking with tears. “He started with me coming out of Chattanooga from Facebook, people didn’t think we would do it, he was with me the whole time. He was so supportive of me. And I love you, man, I miss you. The band misses you.

WATCH: Kane brown reacts to his drummer’s death

Brown noted a similar sense of his longtime connection to his bandmate the day after Dixon’s death, posting on social media, ” You started it all with me from the beginning in 2015, when no body believed we would make it out of Chattanooga playing for 500 people. And your last show was at Fn stadium.”

Dixon was only 27 years old when he died in a car crash. Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be a factor in the accident, according to authorities. His funeral will be held on October 20. Brown rescheduled his upcoming Los Angeles date to October 18.

Brown was one of five honorees at the 2019 CMT Artists of the Year event, joining Carrie underwood, Dan Shay, Thomas Rhett and Luke Combs.

See photos from the ceremony 2019 CMT artists of the year:

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