Swindell popped the question just days ahead of the ACM Awards Thursday.
Cole Swindell and his fiancée, Courtney Little, turned the 2023 CM Awards into a date night!
ET's Rachel Smith spoke to the newly engaged couple on the red carpet ahead of Thursday night's show, where Little showed off that big rock.
"I got a special one. And we could not be more excited to be celebrating a lot of things tonight," Swindell said. "I'm already a winner before I even got here, so it's awesome."
Swindell, who admitted that he blacked out while proposing to Little, said it's an honor to be at the ACMs for a myriad of reasons -- one being his five nominations, with the "You Should Be Here" singer earning noms in the Music Event, Song, Single and Visual Media of the Year categories for his hit track, "She Had Me at Heads Carolina."
"It's an honor to be here, just tonight and be nominated. Have both of our families here," Swindell shared. "It's gonna be a lot to celebrate tonight."
Thursday's appearance also marks the first time the couple has been on a red carpet since Swindell's proposal, which saw the country crooner get down on one knee at the very place he and Little had their first date.
"Our first date was a video shoot for my song, 'Some Habits,'" he revealed. "I just thought that would be appropriate to take her back to that spot, because without that song, without that video shoot, we wouldn't be together. Pretty crazy story but it all came full circle and now we're engaged, and it's the best feeling in the world."
He added, "We got to go back to a special place for us. And I thought about doing it out here, but I knew all this was gonna be going on, and I knew that we'd be talking about this for a long time, and I wanted it to be special."
In addition to his list of nominations, Swindell is set to hit the ACMs stage, performing "She Had Me at Heads Carolina" with the singer who first made the track a hit back in 1996, Jo Dee Messina.
"It's the biggest full-circle moment of my career, I think," Swindell said of joining Messina for the epic mashup. "Growing up on a song, then years later getting to put my own spin on it. Then getting to sing it with her on the ACMs while being nominated for a few awards, has been amazing."
The 58th annual ACM Awards are streaming live on Prime Video and Amazon Music's channel, Twitch, on Thursday, May 11 at 8 p.m. ET from the Ford Center's The Star in Frisco, Texas. Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks are hosting the show with performances by Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean and more. Check out all the nominees and the full winners list.
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