Owen Riegling had a banner night at the Country Music Association of Ontario Awards.
The Mildmay singer-songwriter took home more trophies than any other artist nominated at the 13th annual awards show held at the Music Hall in Hamilton on Sunday night.
Riegling won in five categories including single, album, songwriter, and male artist of the year. This is the second straight year Riegling has claimed the prize for male artist of the year. He was also voted the 2025 fans' choice award winner.
"Holy crap. I didn't think I was going to have to come up here so much tonight, but I am very very grateful," Riegling said in his acceptance speech for the fans' choice award. "I am a huge fan of every artist in this room, all the nominees with me in this category."
He went on to reminisce about his first time attending the awards as a virtual unknown six years ago.
"To be accepting all of these awards tonight is absolutely insane," said Riegling. "I'm a huge fan of music, I'm a huge fan of songwriting and if you have that fire in you, just keep chasing it down because I am telling you it is possible."
His wins for single and songwriter of the year were for his smash hit "Moonshines". He co-wrote the tune with Daryl Scott and Jesse Slack, who also share in the songwriting award.
Ahead of the hardware being handed out, the 26-year-old had received six nominations. The only one he did not go on to claim was for music video of the year. That went to Peterborough native Elyse Saunders.
The CMAOntario Awards, presented by Cowbell Brewing Co., closed out the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend. They were hosted for the final time by Jason McCoy of The Road Hammers. McCoy served as host of the awards for 12 years. In honour of his time as host, the CMAOntario Awards introduced the inaugural Real McCoy Award. It will honour an artist each year who exhibits compassion, integrity, and a deep commitment to the craft—qualities that its namesake exemplifies.
Next year, the festival and awards weekend will be held in Mississauga.