As compatible as the pair may seem, Ella has confirmed that she and Riley aren’t actually an item. "Riley was probably the first famous person I ever met," Langley told Taste of Country in a red-carpet interview. "He was playing all the same bars I went to, and I played the same bars as him. It's cool to see Alabama people winning!”

The early 2000s were Alan Jackson's best and most successful years as an artist, and one of his many standout CMA performances was "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" with Jimmy Buffett. The song — one of Taste of Country's Best of the 21st Century — felt as right this year as "Where Were You" did two years earlier.