The 56th Annual CMA Awards take place on Wednesday (November 9th), and UMG Nashville will be represented in many of the night’s categories, including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist, Male Vocalist, Group, Duo, Single, Song, Musical Event and New Artist.
The evening will begin with a tribute to the late Loretta Lynn, which will include performances by Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert. Performers announced for the show include Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, HARDY, Marcus King, Miranda Lambert, Carly Pearce, Carrie Underwood, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and Zac Brown Band.
Alan Jackson will receive the 2022 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood and Lainey Wilson will take the CMA Awards stage for an all-star tribute to the Country Music Hall of Fame member. The CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award is for an iconic artist who has attained the highest degree of recognition in Country Music. The award recognizes an artist who has achieved both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming numbers, record sales and public representation at the highest level. The artist receiving this award has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of the genre throughout a course of years that have proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on fans and industry alike.
Chris Stapleton has five nominations including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year (“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)”), Single and Song of the Year for “You Should Probably Leave.” With this year’s five nods, Stapleton has amassed 39 career nominations. He is a six-time nominee for Entertainer of the Year and an eight-time nominee for Male Vocalist, a category he has won five times. “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” collects Stapleton his third nomination for Music Video, a category he won in 2016. The video is directed by Lively and is performed with 27-time nominee Taylor Swift. “You Should Probably Leave” marks Stapleton’s fifth nomination for Single of the Year and third nomination for Song. He is a two-time winner in both categories, claiming both trophies in 2018 and 2021. Stapleton co-produced the single with Dave Cobb and it was mixed by Vance Powell. He co-wrote the song with Chris DuBois and Ashley Gorley.
Carrie Underwood earned three nominations including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for “If I Didn’t Love You” with Jason Aldean. With this year’s nominations, Underwood has garnered 40 career nods since 2006. This year marks her 16th nomination for Female Vocalist, a trophy she’s claimed five times. She is a four-time nominee for Musical Event, earning a nod this year for “If I Didn’t Love You,” a duet with Jason Aldean produced by Michael Knox. She collects her fifth nomination for the night’s most coveted trophy, Entertainer of the Year.
Jordan Davis has two CMA nominations for Single of the Year for the multi-week No. 1 single “Buy Dirt” featuring Luke Bryan (who is also nominated); and for Song of the Year for “Buy Dirt,” which he wrote with his brother Jacob Davis (who earned his first CMA nomination), along with Matt and Josh Jenkins.
Jon Pardi has a pair of nominations for his collaboration with Midland on “Longneck Way To Go” for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year. The song also appears on Jon’s brand-new album, Mr. Saturday Night.
2020’s Entertainer of the Year Eric Church is nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, while Little Big Town has a nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, a category which they’ve won SIX times!
Reigning CMA Vocal Duo of the Year Brothers Osborne and Maddie & Tae are up for Vocal Duo of the Year.
Dierks Bentley is nominated along with BRELAND and HARDY for Musical Event of the Year for the trio’s chart-topping tune, “Beers On Me.”
Parker McCollum earns his first CMA nomination for New Artist of the Year
The 56th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, will broadcast LIVE from Nashville November 9th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC.
CMA PERFORMERS INCLUDE:
Luke Bryan – “Country On”
Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood and Lainey Wilson – All-Star tribute to Alan Jackson
Carrie Underwood – “Hate My Heart”
Brothers Osborne and The War & Treaty – “It’s Only Rock & Roll (But I Like It)”
Caylee Hammack and John Osborne (Brothers Osborne) join Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark and Pillbox Patti — “When Will I Be Loved”
Chris Stapleton with Patty Loveless — “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive”
A special performance from Reba McEntire
Other artists who will take the stage to perform include Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brandy Clark, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Combs, HARDY, Cody Johnson, Elle King, Marcus King, Miranda Lambert, Carly Pearce, Katy Perry, Cole Swindell, The Black Keys, Thomas Rhett, Morgan Wallen and Zac Brown Band.
CMA PRESENTERS INCLUDE:
This year’s CMA Awards presenters include two-time World Series champ, MVP and Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts, CMA Musical Event of the Year nominee this year, BRELAND, from the much-anticipated upcoming limited series, “George & Tammy,” Academy Award winner, Jessica Chastain, two-time CMA nominee this year, Jordan Davis, Apple TV’s “Amber Brown” and Lifetime’s “Reindeer Games Homecoming,” Sarah Drew, “Yellowstone” star Cole Hauser, multi-platinum and award-winning songwriter/artist Tyler Hubbard, five-time Grammy winner, Country Music Hall of Fame Member, and one-half of the legendary duo, The Judds, Wynonna Judd, CMA Vocal Group of the Year nominee this year, Lady A, CBS’s “Young Sheldon” and ABC’s “Big Sky” actor Rex Linn, multiple CMA Award-winning band and Vocal Group of the Year nominee this year, Little Big Town, CMA New Artist of the Year nominee this year, Parker McCollum, six-time CMA Awards winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member, Reba McEntire, stars of the hit HGTV shows “HomeTown” and “HomeTown Takeover,” Ben and Erin Napier, 55-year Grand Ole Opry member with over 5,000 performances, and the third female Country artist to win a Grammy, Jeannie Seely, from the much-anticipated upcoming limited series, “George & Tammy,” Academy Award nominee, Michael Shannon, and six-time CMA nominee this year, Lainey Wilson.
The 56th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and NFL great Peyton Manning, will be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 9th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC.
CMA AWARDS NOMINATIONS:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Luke Combs
- Miranda Lambert
- Chris Stapleton
- Carrie Underwood
- Morgan Wallen
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
- Growin’ Up – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix Engineers: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews
- Humble Quest – Maren Morris
Producer: Greg Kurstin
Mix Engineer: Serban Ghenea
- Palomino – Miranda Lambert
Producers: Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Mikey Reaves
Mix Engineer: Jason Lehning
- Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineer: F. Reid Shippen
- Time, Tequila & Therapy – Old Dominion
Producers: Shane McAnally, Old Dominion
Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer
- “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley
- “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins
Mix Engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat
- “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
- “’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
- “You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriter(s)
- “Buy Dirt”
Songwriters: Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins
- “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce
- “Sand In My Boots”
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Josh Osborne
- “Things A Man Oughta Know”
Songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson
- “You Should Probably Leave”
Songwriters: Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Chris Stapleton
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Carly Pearce
- Carrie Underwood
- Lainey Wilson
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- 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
- LOCASH
- Maddie & Tae
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s)
- “Beers On Me” – Dierks Bentley with BRELAND & HARDY
Producers: Dierks Bentley, Ross Copperman
- “If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
Producer: Michael Knox
- “Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
Producers: Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
- “Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
Producer: Zach Crowell
- “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)
- “I Bet You Think About Me” (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) – Taylor Swift (featuring Chris Stapleton)
Director: Blake Lively
- “Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
Director: Harper Smith
- “Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
Director: Michael Monaco
- “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Director: Alexa Campbell
- “’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Director: Dustin Haney
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- HARDY
- Walker Hayes
- Cody Johnson
- Parker McCollum
- Lainey Wilson
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
- Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
- Paul Franklin, Steel guitar
- Brent Mason, Guitar
- Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo
- Derek Wells, Guitar
Luke Bryan (CMA hosting 2022) OC: …help me too. :47
“What I’ve learned is just be comfortable, be yourself, and just walk out there and be yourself. That’s the main thing. Be natural, be fun. If you want to go off the script a little bit, don’t be scared to. If something in the moment happens or something in the room happens that you want to go down that path for a minute, obviously stick to the script, stick to the show, but don’t be afraid to just have fun and relax. I think if you’re relaxed as the host, then the whole night takes a different shape and form. But Peyton’ll do great. He’s been in some pretty high-profile moments in his life, so he can always call an audible and help me too.”
Luke Bryan (co-hosting CMAs with Peyton) OC: …stress away. :50
“The thing about co-hosting with Peyton is all gloves are off. We can cut up with one another, have a little fun, roast each other a little bit, but it takes a little pressure off during the night – even if I’ve got a performance, then Peyton can do one of the segments while I get a little more time to get ready for the performance and coming back in and out. But the bottom line is it’s gonna be a fun thing to share with Peyton, it’s gonna be fun to be backstage, kind of toasting right before we go out and he’s a pro and hopefully I’m a pro at this point. I still try to be a kid about all this, but I do have to take it serious now and then. But, yeah, I think having someone else to share some of the duties takes a little bit of the stress of it all being all on me, takes a little bit of the stress away.”
Luke Bryan (hosting the CMA Awards) OC: …chance to do. :31
“To be a representative of the music that I love, to be someone to carry on a tradition and to be the host and conduct this show with elegance, class, humor, reverence, to really make the show an example of country music and to represent the show to the best of my ability to the people watching at home is a big task and it’s something I’m so honored to have the chance to do.”
Chris Stapleton (grateful for awards) OC: …grateful for the moment. :30
“Well I’ll take ’em home with me I guess once they send ’em Yeah I guess you have to at some point, but it still is a very… I’m thankful for it and it’s very nice and there’s a lot of great people doing a lot of great things making a lot of great music and working really hard and so when you get this kind of a thing going, I don’t think anybody deserves it. It’s a lot of luck and a lot of stars lining up so, I’m grateful for the moment.”
Chris Stapleton (CMA Single & Song) OC: …out there. :15
“To be recognized as a songwriter and to be recognized in a, I guess, commercial sense from the single of the year standpoint – those are two things that are pretty hard to get because there’s a lot of great songs and there’s a lot of great singles out there.”
Chris Stapleton (CMA Male Vocalist 2021) OC: …recognized for that. :17
“It’s special every time you win something, and I do like, I feel like when you win that award, people are appreciating your talent as a singer. And I do partially pride myself on being a pretty good one, so it’s nice to be recognized for that.”
Carrie Underwood (CMA Entertainer 2022 nod) OC: …that category. :47
“It is, I mean, obviously such an honor to be nominated in Entertainer of the Year. Obviously, that’s such a tough category to be in, ‘cause there’s just so, I don’t even want to call it competition, there’s just so many hard working artists out there that are just you know pouring themselves and their time and their energy and their love and their artistry into what they do. You know, obviously just to even be in the final category is just absolutely amazing and hopefully, above all, we can all just remember that it’s a celebration of a great year in country music and in our careers as artists, so we’ll just see what happens, but definitely excited to be in that category.”
Carrie Underwood (CMA Female Vocalist) OC: …incredible ladies. :34
“I feel so blessed to be a female in country music. I love country music so much, and I feel like we have so many talented, gorgeous, amazing females in our genre of music. So, just to be a female in country music is amazing in and of itself, and obviously to be in the female vocalist category at the CMAs is pretty darn special. You know, I feel like, especially with this group of ladies, everybody just lifts each other up, roots for each other and supports each other, so I’m very blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible ladies.”
Carrie Underwood (CMA Musical Event nod) OC: …what happens. :36
“I absolutely love ‘If I Didn’t Love You.’ I love being able to work with Jason Aldean and record this song and perform this song. It’s been such a huge smash for both of us. We knew it was special, and we knew it was going to be good, but I feel like it exceeded any and all expectations that either one of us had and it’s been so much fun to just watch people love the song. So, to be included in the Musical Event category for the CMAs is really awesome. I’ll definitely be holding my breath for that one, ‘cause I just love the song so much. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Dierks Bentley (BOM working with Hardy and Breland) OC: …on the radio. :47
“It’s really been a dream to get to work with Hardy and BRELAND, and it came about so organically. I wrote ‘Beers On Me’ with Hardy and some other people, and I just asked Hardy if he’d take a verse on it. It seemed like a natural song for a duet. But the cool thing is I was in the studio working on the third verse, and I took a break, and I was reading an article in the paper about a guy named BRELAND. And it just hit me maybe I should invite this guy in to sing the third verse. And so, I got his number and called him, and he came in the next day. He rewrote the verse entirely – totally different verse – made the song a hundred times better and then sang on it with the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. So, it’s just been a really awesome collaboration, totally organic, just kind of a meant-to-be thing, and so excited seeing this song do as well as it has on the radio.”
Dierks Bentley (BOM backstory) OC: …is all about. :30
“I had so much fun writing this song ‘Beers On Me’ with my friends HARDY, Ashley Gorley, Ross Copperman and Luke Dick. It took five of us to write this song, and then I got in the studio with HARDY and then Breland came in and wrote a whole nother verse to it. So, there’s actually six guys writing this song, but we had so much fun doing it. One of my favorite songs I’ve written in a long time. I love the idea of just buying everybody a beer. We all have problems that we’re going through, but on a Saturday night or Thursday night or Friday night, whatever night I’m on the road, we’ve got no problems and that’s what this song is all about.”
Jordan Davis (Buy Dirt success is special) OC: …more special. :13
“It just means a lot more. I wrote it with my brother (Jacob) and two my best friends (Josh and Matt Jenkins) in town and just the content of it. It comes from a really, really honest place. So, when you have songs that mean that much and you get to see them have success like ‘Buy Dirt’ is having, it’s a little bit more special.”
Jon Pardi (Longneck Way To Go) OC: …love the guys. :27
“Well, this one I recorded with Midland and Rhett Akins and the boys wrote it, and Rhett played it for me a long time ago, and I loved it and didn’t even mention singing it with Midland. And then fast forward, we get a call from Midland’s manager like, hey we want you on the song. I was like, ‘Is it ‘Longneck Way To Go?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah. How’d you know?’ I said, ‘Cause I love that song. I’ve been rockin’ out to it.’ So, here it is. We’re all together, and I love the guys.”