The 54th CMA Awards are set to take place at 8pm on November 11th, 2020, and this is where you can find a play-by-play of performances and award winners! The show will be hosted by Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker and is airing on ABC.
Before the show, they had already announced a couple of awards:
Musical Event of the Year
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- Lee Brice
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- Carly Pearce
- “10,000 Hours” by Dan + Shay w/ Justin Bieber
- “Be a Light” by Thomas Rhett featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
- “The Bones” by Maren Morris w/ Hozier
- “I Hope You’re Happy Now” by Carly Pearce & Lee Brice – WINNER
- “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” by Miranda Lambert featuring Maren Morris, Elle King, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, & Caylee Hammack
Music Video of the Year
Miranda Lambert
- “10,000 Hours” by Dan + Shay w/ Justin Bieber
- “Bluebird” by Miranda Lambert – WINNER
- “Homemade” by Jake Owen
- “I Hope You’re Happy Now” by Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
- “Second One to Know” by Chris Stapleton
Musician of the Year
- Derek Wells – Guitar
- Ilya Toshinskiy – Guitar
- Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle – WINNER
- Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
- Rob McNelley – Guitar
Charlie Daniels
The show kicked off with a tribute to the late, great Charlie Daniels. Dierks Bentley started it off by performing the hit “Long Haired Country Boy.” Brothers Osborne then joined Bentley on stage to perform “Trudy.” Next up was Ashley McBryde, who sang lead vocals on “Texas.” Jason Aldean joined in for the grand finale to sing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker came out to an “In-The-Round” stage set-up, surrounded by tables where the various artists were seated in a socially distanced manner, similar to the Golden Globes. A few jokes were made, mainly around COVID-19, Reba’s new boyfriend, and Darius Rucker‘s music. A great joke was made at Morgan Wallen‘s expense related to his recent removal from Saturday Night Live’s lineup.
Bobby Bones was introduced to announce the first award of the night, and made a joke about all the puns that the hosts threw around in their monologue.
Single of the Year
Maren Morris
- “10,000 Hours” by Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber
- “Beer Never Broke My Heart” by Luke Combs
- “Bluebird” by Miranda Lambert
- “The Bones” by Maren Morris – WINNER
- “I Hope” by Gabby Barrett
Reba and Darius introduced Morgan Wallen who came out to perform “More Than My Hometown”
Model Taylor Hill came out next to introduce the nominees for Song of the Year
Song of the Year
Maren Morris
- “Bluebird” by Miranda Lambert
- “The Bones” by Maren Morris – WINNER
- “Even Though I’m Leaving” by Luke Combs
- “I Hope You’re Happy Now” by Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
- “More Hearts Than Mine” by Ingrid Andress
Darius Rucker introduced Gabby Barrett and Charlie Puth who performed her smash hit “I Hope”
Reba introduced Eric Church who performed his new single “Hell of a View”
Reba introduced Darius Rucker who performed his new single “Beers and Sunshine”
A commercial aired announcing that the 2020 CMA Country Christmas TV special will air on November 30th, hosted by Thomas Rhett and his wife Lauren Akins.
Reba, looking very busty, introduced Ashley McBryde who performed her hit “One Night Standards”
Lauren Akins came out to announce the next award.
New Artist of the Year
Darius Rucker introduced Dan + Shay w/ Justin Bieber who performed “10,000 Hours” from an empty Hollywood Bowl
Reba and Darius Rucker introduced Luke Combs who performed a new song called “Cold as You”
Darius Rucker introduced a feature where Jon Pardi and Chevy surprised a fan with a brand new Chevy Pick Up truck in honor of his service.
Joe Diffie
Darius Rucker then introduced Jon Pardi on stage who performed “Pickup Man” in honor of the late Joe Diffie.
Reba introduced Carly Pearce and Charles Kelley of Lady A who performed “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” Lee Brice had to back out after catching COVID-19. This performance was pre-recorded, which is a good thing because today Lady A announced they were all quarantining now due to exposure to someone that has COVID-19.
Dierks Bentley came out to give away the next award.
Vocal Duo of the Year
Dan + Shay
CeCe Winans came out to introduce Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker, who performed “In The Ghetto” in honor of the late Mac Davis, who wrote the song that Elvis Presley made famous.
Miranda Lambert was introduced by an off-screen announcer and performed her new single “Settling Down”
Reba was back to introduce the next performance, and accidentally coughed, making for an awkward, but funny moment. Jimmie Allen then took the stage in a tuxedo to perform his hit single “Best Shot.” As his song faded out, he thanked country radio for making this a #1 song. He then said he may not have even made it if it weren’t for Charley Pride. Signed to RCA records in 1966 after a baseball career, Pride earned 36 #1 hits and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Charley Pride then took the stage with Jimmie Allen to perform his signature hit “Kiss an Angel Good Morning.”
Jimmie Allen then presented Charley Pride with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Career Achievement Award. He nervously gave an acceptance speech that ended with a thunderous applause.
Reba and Darius Rucker introduced Chris Stapleton and his wife Morgan who performed “Starting Over”
Lauren Alaina and Patrick Schwarzenegger were out next to introduce the next award.
Vocal Group of the Year
Old Dominion
Darius Rucker introduced Ingrid Andress who performed her Song of the Year nominee “More Hearts Than Mine.” She finished the performance in tears. Very touching moment.
Darius Rucker introduced Thomas Rhett, Chris Tomlin, and Reba McEntire to perform “Be a Light”
Jake Owen came out to present the next award
Album of the Year
Luke Combs
- Heartache Medication by Jon Pardi
- Never Will by Ashley McBryde
- Old Dominion by Old Dominion
- What You See Is What You Get by Luke Combs – WINNER
- Wildcard by Miranda Lambert
Kenny Rogers
Darius Rucker introduced Little Big Town who performed “Sweet Music Man” in honor of the late Kenny Rogers. Great performance, but wish they had done more to honor Kenny Rogers than just one song.
Brothers Osborne was introduced by the off-screen announcer to perform “All Night”
Reba introduced Kane Brown who talked about the Crown Royal Purple Bag Project. Reba then presented the 1 millionth bag to Kathleen Lewis, the founder of “Packages from Home.” The bag was filled with Thank You notes for Lewis.
Darius Rucker introduced Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee who were in the audience to be honored for their contributions to the Urban Cowboy movie. Old Dominion was then introduced to perform “Lookin’ For Love”
Reba introduced Maren Morris who performed “The Bones”
Reba and Darius Rucker introduced Keith Urban who performed “God Whispered Your Name” from Australia
Charles Esten was out for the next presentation
Female Vocalist of the Year
Maren Morris
Sara Evans was out next to announce the next award
Male Vocalist of the Year
Luke Combs
Kelsea Ballerini performed her new single “Hole in the Bottle”
Reba and Darius Rucker announced the final award
Entertainer of the Year
Eric Church