1 week Ago By Chris Willman
Morgan Wallen is the leading nominee for the 58th annual CMA Awards , with seven nods. He had some help with that — most notably in the form of his featured duet appearance on Post Malone ‘s smash “I Had Some Help,” which was nominated in four categories. Wallen’s seven nominations for the annual kudos from the Country Music Association are followed by five each for Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton.
Just behind that mark, Post Malone’s four nominations landed him in a tie with reigning entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson. Seven artists or producer-writers picked up three nominations each: singers Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Megan Maroney and Kacey Musgraves, along with Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome and Hoskins, all three of whom co-produced “I Had Some Help” and also are among the credited writers on the tune. Prominent double nominees include Kelsea Ballerini and hotshot newcomer Shaboozey.
(Scroll down for the full list of nominations.) In contention for entertainer of the year, which is considered the top category, four of five nominees are repeats from last year, including Wilson, the returning champion, plus Combs, Stapleton and Wallen. The newcomer in the category is Jelly Roll, who knocked out one of the 2023 nominees, Carrie Underwood.
Combs previously claimed the title in 2021 and 2022; Stapleton and Wallen have never won it before, along with first-timer Jelly Roll. Not nominated: Beyonce, whose country-themed “Cowboy Carter” album and “Texas Hold ‘Em” single topped the charts, but who received only limited success in crossing over to country radio. An artist who appeared as a guest on Beyonce’s album, Shaboozey, fared better, receiving two nominations.
The new artist category is a particularly loaded one this year. It includes Shaboozey, who has one other nomination, for single of the year, with his breakout hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” When Billboard published its final Songs of the Summer chart, “A Bar Song” came in second only to “I Had Some Help” — with the fact that country landed the top two slots offering further proof of the genre’s power right now.
Shaboozey would seem to be the leading contender just based on his recent dominance of the Hot 100 as well as No. 1 status on country airplay. But the industry also has a lot of love for Moroney, a rare female to make it to the top of the airplay chart, and Bailey Zimmerman, who has enjoyed pop crossover success.
Nate Smith, Mitchell Tenpenny and Zach Top are also up for new artist — with the fact that six are nominated instead of just the usual five being an indication of a tie. Some attention will go to the fact that Zach Bryan received only one nomination, for musical event of the year for his song “I Remember Everything,” which also picked up a nod for his featured duet partner, Musgraves. It’s Bryan’s second nomination overall, following his entry into the best new artist category last year.
Bryan’s paucity of nominations at the CMA, ACM and CMT awards shows, respectively, is in contrast with the general public belief that he has been the most popular country artist of the past few years apart from Wallen. Yet he hasn’t fully, officially embraced the role of country artist, and his songs are not actively promoted to country radio, with his absence there leaving him somewhat at odds with the Nashville mainstream. (Interestingly, the new upstart in the country awards field, the People’s Choice Country Awards, has given Bryan a whopping 11 nominations for its upcoming second annual show, no doubt hoping to distinguish itself from the more established programs.
) Entertainer of the year feels like it may be more up for grabs than usual this year, with a strong case to be made that any of the five candidates is a serious contender to win. Jelly Roll, the newcomer in the category, has had a monstrous year, and has arguably become the new poster boy for country in a similar way to how last year’s winner, Wilson, had become the new poster girl. Stapleton might seem like a long shot for entertainer of the year, due to his history of being nominated seven times without winning — a record.
But it’s that very “overdue” status that may make the “White Horse” performer the category’s dark horse. As for Wallen, his chair-tossing incident may be seen as impacting the “leadership” part of the official criteria for the entertainer award — yet it’s possible that industry voters are ready to overlook that when it comes to a guy who has the biggest all-genre album of the last two years and now the biggest song of 2024..
. not to mention a stadium tour. As for Post Malone, he split the eligibility period, by having “I Had Some Help” come out before the cutoff but his debut country album, “F-1 Trillion,” be released too late to be up for this year’s awards.
But that album has been so ecstatically received in the country industry since its release less than a month ago that he’s nearly certain to pick up as many or more nominations in 2025. Cody Johnson also certainly stands as a success story for 2024, in terms of increased nominations. He has never been nominated for more than two CMAs in a single year before, and picked up just one last year, for best male vocalist.
This year, he is nominated for that trophy plus single of the year, album of the year, and video of the year — twice, actually, in that last category (for both “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter”). Although no one knows who came in sixth in the voting for entertainer of the year, chances are it was Johnson, based on his strength in virtually anything else he could have been up for. The CMAs issued a long list of artists, producers, writers and engineers who are nominated for the first time this year, including Andrew Baylis, Louis Bell, Brock Berryhill, Tom Bukovac, Will Bundy, Sean Cook, Benjy Davis, Shawn Everett, Riley Green, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft, Kat Higgins, Hoskins, Jeff Johnson, Noah Kahan, Ella Langley, Ryan Larkins, Raul Lopez, Josh Phillips, Post Malone, Nevin Sastry, Shaboozey, Ernest Keith Smith, Nate Smith, Konrad Snyder, Mitchell Tenpenny, The Red Clay Strays, Zach Top, Chris Villa, Chandler Paul Walters and Bailey Zimmerman.
Balloting among the CMA’s professional members will take place Oct. 1-29. The CMA Awards telecast was recently announced as scheduled to take place on Nov.
20 — about two weeks later than it would normally air, likely due to the fact that its traditional broadcast week would intersect with the presidential election and its immediate aftermath, at which point America may have heavier stuff on its mind. The show will air on that date at 8 p.m.
ET/PT on ABC, with streaming availability on Hulu the following day. A host or hosts have not yet been announced. Robert Deaton returns as executive producer, with Alan Carter again directing and Jon Macks set as head writer.
Tickets for the live event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster.
The full list of 2024 nominees: ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR • Luke Combs • Jelly Roll • Chris Stapleton • Morgan Wallen • Lainey Wilson SINGLE OF THE YEAR Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s) • “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry Mix Engineer: Raul Lopez • “Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson Producer: Trent Willmon Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke • “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen) Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore • “Watermelon Moonshine” – Lainey Wilson Producer: Jay Joyce Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce • “White Horse” – Chris Stapleton Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton Mix Engineer: Vance Powell ALBUM OF THE YEAR Award goes to Artist, Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s) • “Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian Mix Engineers: Shawn Everett, Konrad Snyder • “Fathers & Sons” – Luke Combs Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews • “Higher” – Chris Stapleton Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton Mix Engineer: Vance Powell • “Leather” – Cody Johnson Producer: Trent Willmon Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke • “Whitsitt Chapel” – Jelly Roll Producers: Andrew Baylis, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Jesse Frasure, David Garcia, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft, Austin Nivarel, David Ray Stevens Mix Engineers: Jeff Braun, Jim Cooley SONG OF THE YEAR Award goes to Songwriter(s) • “Burn It Down” Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Parker McCollum, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose • “Dirt Cheap” Songwriter: Josh Phillips • “I Had Some Help” Songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters • “The Painter” Songwriters: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins • “White Horse” Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR • Megan Moroney • Shaboozey • Nate Smith • Mitchell Tenpenny • Zach Top • Bailey Zimmerman FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR • Kelsea Ballerini • Ashley McBryde • Megan Moroney • Kacey Musgraves • 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 • Old Dominion • The Red Clay Strays • 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) • “Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini (with Noah Kahan) Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym • “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen) Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins • “I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan (ft.
Kacey Musgraves) Producer: Zach Bryan • “Man Made a Bar” – Morgan Wallen (feat. Eric Church) Producer: Joey Moi • “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley (feat. Riley Green) Producer: Will Bundy MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR • Tom Bukovac – Guitar • Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle • Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar • Rob McNelley – Guitar • Charlie Worsham – Guitar MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s) • “Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson Director: Dustin Haney • “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat.
Morgan Wallen) Director: Chris Villa • “I’m Not Pretty” – Megan Moroney Directors: Jeff Johnson, Megan Moroney • “The Painter” – Cody Johnson Director: Dustin Haney • “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” – Lainey Wilson Director: Patrick Tracy.
