2023 CMA Awards

[christianlarson9]

Nominations will be announced on CMA's social media accounts next Thursday (9/7).

[recordyear]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Nominees}ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
– Luke Combs
– Chris Stapleton
– Carrie Underwood
– Morgan Wallen
– Lainey Wilson

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
– “Fast Car” – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews
– “Heart Like A Truck” – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
– “Need A Favor” – Jelly Roll
Producer: Austin Nivarel
Mix Engineer: Jeff Braun
– “Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley
– “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
Producers: HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells
Mix Engineer: Joey Moi

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist, Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
– Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde
Producers: John Osborne, John Peets
Mix Engineers: Gena Johnson, John Osborne
– Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
– Gettin’ Old – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix Engineers: Michael H. Brauer, Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews
– One Thing At A Time – Morgan Wallen
Producers: Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Joey Moi, Cameron Montgomery
Mix Engineers: Josh Ditty, Joey Moi, Eivind Nordland
– Rolling Up the Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym
Mix Engineers: Dan Grech-Marguerat, Alysa Vanderheym

SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriter(s)
– “Fast Car”
Songwriter: Tracy Chapman
– “Heart Like A Truck”
Songwriters: Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson
– “Next Thing You Know”
Songwriters: Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne
– “Tennessee Orange”
Songwriters: David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney, Ben Williams
– “wait in the truck”
Songwriters: Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
– Kelsea Ballerini
– Miranda Lambert
– Ashley McBryde
– Carly Pearce
– Lainey Wilson

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
– Luke Combs
– Jelly Roll
– Cody Johnson
– Chris Stapleton
– Morgan Wallen

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
– Lady A
– Little Big Town
– Midland
– Old Dominion
– Zac Brown Band

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
– Brooks & Dunn
– Brothers Osborne
– Dan + Shay
– Maddie & Tae
– The War And Treaty

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artists and Producer(s)
– “Save Me” – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)
Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens
– “She Had Me At Heads Carolina (Remix)” – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina
Producer: Zach Crowell
– “Thank God” – Kane Brown (with Katelyn Brown)
Producer: Dann Huff
– “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
Producers: HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells
– “We Don’t Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce (featuring Chris Stapleton)
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
– Jenee Fleenor
– Paul Franklin
– Rob McNelley
– Derek Wells
– Charlie Worsham

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)
– “Light On In The Kitchen” – Ashley McBryde
Director: Reid Long
– “Memory Lane” – Old Dominion
Directors: Mason Allen, Nicki Fletcher
– “Need A Favor” – Jelly Roll
Director: Patrick Tohill
– “Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis
Director: Running Bear
– “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
Director: Justin Clough

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
– Zach Bryan
– Jelly Roll
– Parker McCollum
– Megan Moroney
– Hailey Whitters

[christianlarson9]

My thoughts:

•Thrilled to see Lainey in EOTY. Her success/momentum is on a different level compared to other women in the genre at the moment!
•I’m so glad voters gave Kelsea the recognition she deserves! She deserves to win both of her nominations.
•Love to see Hailey, Megan & Zach all get their first nominations. They are going to see a lot more success for years to come.
•Bailey & Cole were snubbed in Single of the Year.
•Kane Brown deserved a lot more love.


Overall the nominations are solid. I’m most happy to see Tracy Chapman secure a Song of the Year nomination. Its historic in itself & I would love to see Tracy make an appearance at the show.

[McCreerian]

How in the world did "Last Night" not get nominated for SOTY?
So happy for Lainey! I hope she wins them all! Especially EOTY!!

[Troublemaker]

How in the world is Miranda Lambert still getting nominated for female in a quiet year?

[schnetzka]

Sept 7, 2023 8:10:11 GMT -5 Troublemaker said:

How in the world is Miranda Lambert still getting nominated for female in a quiet year?

What I don't understand is how Miranda is nominated in that category in a quiet year, but Carrie isn't when she's been releasing a lot.

[CoJoFan]

Bailey getting snubbed for several awards including New Artist. I would’ve put him in over Zach Bryan or either of the female artists. Although it is nice seeing 2 female artists getting nominated. Pulling for “Fast Car” to win Song of the Year!

[14887fan]

I don’t expect Stapleton or Underwood to win EOTY anytime soon, or possibly ever, but it is nice to see them still clearing the benchmark.

This will be a very Lainey/Combs/Wallen-heavy night.

[carrieidol1]

Pleasantly surprised to see Carrie make EOTY, but the FVOTY category makes it clear she’s only there because Miranda couldn’t be. Not to beat the horse dead, but I believe women generally split a smaller pool of votes and now there are more competitive women in the mix..

[austin]

I am rooting for Jelly Roll for New Artist. I'd assume the collab nom is a lock for him and Lainey.

Kelsea for album, please.

[zdm1998]

I really don’t get how Miranda is in FVOTY with her quiet year, on top of not being with a label that is pushing her. I guess it really is based on if you’re in WME’s talent agency if you are going to pull in the most noms, since that’s who the awards favorites usually are (Miranda, Chris, Lainey, etc.) Really would have liked to seen Carrie in there over her, but I’m whatever about it cause neither her or Miranda would win anyway.

I’m expecting either Lainey or Kelsea for FVOTY, really think this year is Kelsea’s because she’s beyond due a win, and this past year possibly will be her peak at exposure.

Also happy to see RUTWM in AOTY, although I’m not expecting it to win.

[14887fan]

Would be thrilled to see Kelsea come through with an Album win. I fear it being an EP + her continued, concentrated rise outside of the country realm may actually play against her when it comes time to vote. Hope I’m wrong, though, and critical/surprise commercial acclaim helps her take it.

Above all else, I just want to see Tracy Chapman win an award. Respectfully don’t really care if LC himself wins anything. Would just be nice to see Tracy get that decades-later acknowledgement again, because it’d be a cool story (and that song remains perfect).

[Deleted]

It's a shame Darla McFarland got snubbed for new artist.

[raylatch98]

How did Parmalee not get group again?

[carrieidol1]

Aug 5, 2023 6:15:45 GMT -5 carrieidol1 said:

Aug 5, 2023 0:22:58 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I don't think Carrie's lack of EOTY wins has anything to do with Miranda Lambert, Female Vocalist? Sure, but EOTY? Nah.

Not to mention as austin pointed out, if there was ever a time for her to win... this year would NOT be it, lol.

My EOTY prediction:

Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen

(Wildcard, switch Carrie out for Lainey).

Was one off, poor Kane. He deserves that spot over Lainey, imo.

Again, elated to see Carrie and happy to see two women in EOTY, but ehhh… Lainey had a huge year with a massive hit — so have other women in their debut eras. She’s the “it” girl right now and she’s very talented, I don’t mean to take anything away from her hard work and talent, but she’s sooo in the “boy’s club”, and I genuinely believe this girl could sweep the entire show including EOTY. As a supporter of women and diversity in country music, that’s AWESOME. As a Carrie fan, it’s a bittersweet possibility at best… for me, at least.

Random tidbit, Carrie has been nominated 5 consecutive years for EOTY, Reba was the last to do so in the early 90s… a streak which never resulted in a win, but hers came earlier in the mid 80s.

Overall there are no major surprises this year, but boy is country music changing!!! There’s almost an entirely new crop of names compared to just a few years ago.

[er1c612]

My main thoughts are:
Parmalee not getting nominated for group is a major snub
Bailey Zimmerman not getting nominated for New Artist is a snub on the same level as Parmalee
Idk what it will take to get the CMA’s to nominate Kane Brown for the big awards
Jordan Davis probably should been nominated for Male Vocalist, there’s even an argument to be made for Tyler Hubbard
I’m happy for Lainey to be nominated for Entertainer
I hope Kelsea wins every award she nominated for. Aside from me being a big fan, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat was a masterpiece!
I hope Wallen or Carrie wins Entertainer
Idk how none of Morgan Wallen’s songs got nominated for song or single of the year

[carriefan15]

Did multiple Wallen songs make the 2nd round or voting (or showcase if that’s what it’s called) before the nominations. Because split votes could definitely be why none of his songs made it in Single and Song. Still surprising nonetheless

He may follow in Carrie’s footsteps with the voters. EOTY and FVOTY (most years) but barely every any songs..I can’t even think of the last Carrie song to be nominated for single or song….maybe Blown Away??? I wanna say Something In The Water got nominated for Video but nothing else right? And same thing for Cry Pretty or Love Wins

[CoJoFan]

Sept 7, 2023 17:27:41 GMT -5 carriefan15 said:

Did multiple Wallen songs make the 2nd round or voting (or showcase if that’s what it’s called) before the nominations. Because split votes could definitely be why none of his songs made it in Single and Song. Still surprising nonetheless

He may follow in Carrie’s footsteps with the voters. EOTY and FVOTY (most years) but barely every any songs..I can’t even think of the last Carrie song to be nominated for single or song….maybe Blown Away??? I wanna say Something In The Water got nominated for Video but nothing else right? And same thing for Cry Pretty or Love Wins

The last Carrie song nominated was “Before He Cheats” in 2007. It was nominated for both single and song. It won single of the year but lost song of the year to George Strait’s “Give It Away”.

[.indulgecountry]

Sept 7, 2023 14:48:12 GMT -5 carrieidol1 said:

Aug 5, 2023 6:15:45 GMT -5 carrieidol1 said:

My EOTY prediction:

Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen

(Wildcard, switch Carrie out for Lainey).

Was one off, poor Kane. He deserves that spot over Lainey, imo.

Again, elated to see Carrie and happy to see two women in EOTY, but ehhh… Lainey had a huge year with a massive hit — so have other women in their debut eras. She’s the “it” girl right now and she’s very talented, I don’t mean to take anything away from her hard work and talent, but she’s sooo in the “boy’s club”, and I genuinely believe this girl could sweep the entire show including EOTY. As a supporter of women and diversity in country music, that’s AWESOME. As a Carrie fan, it’s a bittersweet possibility at best… for me, at least.

Random tidbit, Carrie has been nominated 5 consecutive years for EOTY, Reba was the last to do so in the early 90s… a streak which never resulted in a win, but hers came earlier in the mid 80s.

Overall there are no major surprises this year, but boy is country music changing!!! There’s almost an entirely new crop of names compared to just a few years ago.

Lainey Wilson absolutely belongs there; Chris Stapleton is the head-scratcher for me. He's like the male version of Miranda Lambert: he could hide in a cabin for most of the year and the industry would still want to nominate him for one of the major awards, lol. His year was even quieter than her's on the music front and yet he's in EOTY, but Lainey? She's been everywhere. She's truly the biggest female breakout star of the genre since the triumvirate of Carrie/Miranda/Taylor in the mid-2000s, and the current face of country music alongside Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and a handful of others. I wish Kane had gotten nominated for a few more things because he's had a great year, but I'm not totally surprised.

[recordyear]

Stapleton has one of the most talked about performances on CMA Awards last year (You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive with Patty Loveless), and the national anthem performance on Super Bowl that many said is the best since Whitney. I think he is deserving.

[carrieidol1]

Statistically there’s no doubt Lainey belongs there, but I’d say the same for Kane. He, too scored a massive hit, and he has a few more to his name. I do think there should be room for “legacy” artists who still maintain high and relevant profiles within the genre; while 2023 wasn’t the year of Stapleton or Underwood, they’ve both lost to people like Garth Brooks who has won EOTY thrice in the past decade over more current artists whose year it actually was (to win)… So I’m happy to see two artists who have some real country history to their names still contending, as both have been inexplicably snubbed for wins in this category for the better part of a decade now. Also, Stapleton did have some high profile performances throughout the year, his anthem at the superbowl was a huge moment and great for country music.

[thewp]

Sept 7, 2023 19:30:23 GMT -5 recordyear said:

Stapleton has one of the most talked about performances on CMA Awards last year (You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive with Patty Loveless), and the national anthem performance on Super Bowl that many said is the best since Whitney. I think he is deserving.

He also has two singles out and a successful tour and opening for Strait in stadiums. 🤔

[carriefan15]

Sept 7, 2023 19:30:23 GMT -5 recordyear said:

Stapleton has one of the most talked about performances on CMA Awards last year (You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive with Patty Loveless), and the national anthem performance on Super Bowl that many said is the best since Whitney. I think he is deserving.

That’s all fine and dandy but I don’t think either of those warrant an EOTY nomination 🤔

[.indulgecountry]

Sept 7, 2023 21:05:39 GMT -5 carriefan15 said:

Sept 7, 2023 19:30:23 GMT -5 recordyear said:

Stapleton has one of the most talked about performances on CMA Awards last year (You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive with Patty Loveless), and the national anthem performance on Super Bowl that many said is the best since Whitney. I think he is deserving.

That’s all fine and dandy but I don’t think either of those warrant an EOTY nomination 🤔

Yeah I don't think either of those performances + a total snooze of single that made no real splash at country radio ("Joy of My Life") makes him a better pick for EOTY over Kane Brown who had an album release padded with a year full of hits, one of which was a major crossover. Chris Stapleton had a pretty quiet year. 🤷

[matty005]

Sept 7, 2023 21:05:39 GMT -5 carriefan15 said:

Sept 7, 2023 19:30:23 GMT -5 recordyear said:

Stapleton has one of the most talked about performances on CMA Awards last year (You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive with Patty Loveless), and the national anthem performance on Super Bowl that many said is the best since Whitney. I think he is deserving.

That’s all fine and dandy but I don’t think either of those warrant an EOTY nomination 🤔

I mean, you were literally listing Carrie being on magazine covers as a reason she should win. Pretty sure that performance trumps all of those covers.

You're right though, other than that, he didn't do much.

[er1c612]

Sept 7, 2023 21:09:50 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Sept 7, 2023 21:05:39 GMT -5 carriefan15 said:

That’s all fine and dandy but I don’t think either of those warrant an EOTY nomination 🤔

Yeah I don't think either of those performances + a total snooze of single that made no real splash at country radio ("Joy of My Life") makes him a better pick for EOTY over Kane Brown who had an album release padded with a year full of hits, one of which was a major crossover. Chris Stapleton had a pretty quiet year. 🤷

I agree with what many have said, there are quite a few artists that probably deserved the Entertainer nod over Stapleton, Kane probably the most deserving. It’s interesting to me to notice, that with the rapid rise of Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, & now Lainey Wilson, and the long time staying power of Carrie, combined with Garth’s inexplicable 3 wins after his comeback, the whole era of Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Sam Hunt, etc… basically got completely passed over as if they never happened.

[carriefan15]

Sept 7, 2023 22:40:31 GMT -5 matty005 said:

Sept 7, 2023 21:05:39 GMT -5 carriefan15 said:

That’s all fine and dandy but I don’t think either of those warrant an EOTY nomination 🤔

I mean, you were literally listing Carrie being on magazine covers as a reason she should win. Pretty sure that performance trumps all of those covers.

You're right though, other than that, he didn't do much.

I listed a lot more than just that lol

“Carrie’s entire tour was within the eligibility period, she had her Vegas residency during this time, she has done several one-off shows/concerts, and even though she wasn’t as prominent on radio, she still had Ghost Story and Hate My Heart on the charts and got tons of recurrent play for If I Didn’t Love You. Plus she still dominates the entertainment industry in general…showing up on covers of magazines, radio/talk shows, etc. So I guess to me it feels like every other year, if not even more so this year, that she deserves to win EOTY. I sure hope she’s at least nominated!”

I also never said Stapleton shouldn’t be nominated or that “he didn’t do much”…just that he shouldn’t be nominated based on just those two stated performances. So I’m not too sure what you’re saying I’m right about…maybe combining my post with the one right after mine

[CoJoFan]

After Zach Bryan got arrested in Oklahoma yesterday they should replace him with Bailey Zimmerman.

[jenglisbe]

Sept 7, 2023 18:04:20 GMT -5 CoJoFan said:

Sept 7, 2023 17:27:41 GMT -5 carriefan15 said:

Did multiple Wallen songs make the 2nd round or voting (or showcase if that’s what it’s called) before the nominations. Because split votes could definitely be why none of his songs made it in Single and Song. Still surprising nonetheless

He may follow in Carrie’s footsteps with the voters. EOTY and FVOTY (most years) but barely every any songs..I can’t even think of the last Carrie song to be nominated for single or song….maybe Blown Away??? I wanna say Something In The Water got nominated for Video but nothing else right? And same thing for Cry Pretty or Love Wins

The last Carrie song nominated was “Before He Cheats” in 2007. It was nominated for both single and song. It won single of the year but lost song of the year to George Strait’s “Give It Away”.

Right. Kind of crazy tbh. carriefan15 may be remembering that "Cowboy Casanova" got an ACM nod for Song of the Year. (Of course, "If I Didn't Love You" won the ACM Single of the Year last year as well, but it wasn't nominated for Single or Song at the CMAs.)

[bigd79]

My 2 cents… i don’t get AT ALL how Lainey can be nominated for EOTY when she’s never headlined anything in her life. Has she ever done an arena tour on her own? I’m talking ones where she goes to places like MSG, Staples Center, United Center, etc… no she has not. She’s never headlined any festival either. Is she even the the second to last on the bill yet? She has 3 solo radio hits and a couple duets and thats it to this point.

Not EOTY material. Not even close.