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

• “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

• Jimmie Allen
• Ingrid Andress
• Gabby Barrett
• Carly Pearce
• Morgan Wallen – WINNER

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

• Brooks & Dunn
• Brothers Osborne
• Dan + Shay – WINNER
• Florida Georgia Line
• Maddie & Tae

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

• Lady A
• Little Big Town
• Midland
• Old Dominion – WINNER
• Rascal Flatts

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

• Miranda Lambert
• Ashley McBryde
• Maren Morris – WINNER
• Kacey Musgraves
• Carrie Underwood

Sara Evans was out next to announce the next award

Male Vocalist of the Year

Luke Combs

• Eric Church
• Luke Combs – WINNER
• Thomas Rhett
• Chris Stapleton
• Keith Urban

Kelsea Ballerini performed her new single “Hole in the Bottle”

Reba and Darius Rucker announced the final award

Entertainer of the Year

Eric Church

• Eric Church – WINNER
• Luke Combs
• Miranda Lambert
• Carrie Underwood
• Keith Urban

Kimberly Schlapman

Recent Country Music Headlines

• Circle Network Now Available via Mobile Streaming Services
• Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman Authors “A Dolly For Christmas”
• Photo:  Jameson Rodgers is Engaged
• Lee Greenwood Partners With Time Life To Release Two Exclusive Albums Digitally For The First Time Ever
• Mac Davis Funeral Plans
• Charlie Daniels Newsletter – 10/2/20
• Phil Vassar Newsletter – 10/2/20
• Luke Bryan Newsletter – 10/2/20
• Dolly Parton Newsletter – 10/2/20

Recommended Viewing – Recent Country Music Videos

• Music Video:  “No Sweat” by Laine Lonero

This Date in Country Music History

• 2012 – Blake Shelton released his album Cheers, It’s Christmas
• 2012 – Jerrod Niemann released his album Free the Music
• 2012 – Brad Paisley invited Darius Rucker to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry
• 2007 – Brooks & Dunn released their album Cowboy Town
• 2001 – Gary Allan released his album Alright Guy
• 1998 – Country Music Hall of Famer Gene Autry passed away in California…he was also an actor and owned the California Angels
• 1990 – Mark Chesnutt released his debut album Too Cold at Home
• 1972 – George Jones released his single “A Picture of Me (Without You)”
• 1954 – Elvis Presley made his only appearance ever at the Grand Ole Opry

Today’s Birthdays (See All Country Artist Birthdays)

• Chris LeDoux (d)

Today’s New Albums (See All Album Release Dates)

• Brent Cobb – Keep ‘Em On They Toes
• David Adam Byrnes – Neon Town
• Jensen Sisters – Yellow Frames
• Dolly Parton  – A Holly Dolly Christmas
• Shania Twain – The Woman in Me:  Diamond Edition
• Bobby Bare – Bobby Bare Sings Shel Silverstein Plus
• Drew Haley – Wildflower (EP)
• Jon Pardi – Heartache Medication (Deluxe)
• Jason Nix – Money On You (EP)
• Rascal Flatts – Twenty Years of Rascal Flatts:  The Greatest Hits
• Patti Page – This Can’t Be Love
• Brantley Gilbert – Fire & Brimstone Deluxe
• Everette – Kings of the Dairy Queen Parking Lot:  Side A
• 49 Winchester – III

Today’s New Singles (See All Single Release Dates)

• Invent a T-Shirt – Jenny Tolman
• Bridges – Cameron DuBois
• Better Than We Found It – Maren Morris
• The Truth – Cody Hibbard
• Like Mine – Brandy Clark
• Just Like You – Paige King Johnson
• Hell of a View – Eric Church
• California Gurls – Sarah Darling
• Love Me That Way – Jessica Lynn
• America, I Love You, Too – Dennis Quaid
• The Blame – Jerrod Niemann
• It Won’t Be Me – Jerrod Niemann
• Selfish – Shae Dupuy
• Going Nowhere – Lauren Davidson
• Sink – Manny Blu

Today’s Photo Flashback (See All Photos)

• None Today

Contests

• Win a George Strait Prize Pack – ends 10/16/20
• Win a Clay Walker “Need a Bar Sometimes” Experience – ends 10/23/20
• Win a Restored 1974 International Scout II and $20,000 from Brett Eldredge – ends 11/19/20

This Week’s Events (See All Upcoming Events)

Billy Currington

Recent Country Music Headlines

• Top 10 Songs of the Month – September 2020
• Breaking News:  Mac Davis Dies at 78
• Part 1:  Country Music Community Remembers Mac Davis
• Part 2:  Fellow Singer/Songwriters and Friends Remember and Mourn The Loss of Mac Davis
• Part 3:  Remembering Mac Davis
• Jeff Carson To Host ‘Country Classics’
• Canadian Country Artist Brett Kissel Signs with Verge Records
• Zac Brown Band Newsletter – 9/30/20

Recommended Viewing – Recent Country Music Videos

• Michael Ray’s Honky Tonk Tuesday – 9/29/20
• Behind the Song:  “Uncommon Man” by Dallas Remington

This Date in Country Music History

• 2017 – Thomas Rhett topped the albums chart for the first of 3 weeks with Life Changes
• 2016 – William Michael Morgan released his debut album Vinyl
• 2014 – Blake Shelton released his album Bringing Back the Sunshine
• 2014 – Lady Antebellum released their album 747
• 2013 – Tyler Farr released his debut album Redneck Crazy
• 2006 – George Strait scored a #1 hit with “Give It Away”
• 2003 – Billy Currington released his self-titled debut album
• 2003 – Gary Allan released his album See If I Care

Today’s Birthdays (See All Country Artist Birthdays)

• Eddie Montgomery
• Marty Stuart

Today’s New Albums (See All Album Release Dates)

• None Today

Today’s New Singles (See All Single Release Dates)

• Palomino Gold – Hill Country
• Loralei – GOODnGONE

Today’s Photo Flashback (See All Photos)

• Mikel Knight – 9/30/11 – Renegades in West Palm Beach, FL

Contests

• Win a Clay Walker “Need a Bar Sometimes” Experience – ends 10/23/20
• Win a Restored 1974 International Scout II and $20,000 from Brett Eldredge – ends 11/19/20

This Week’s Events (See All Upcoming Events)

Happy Birthday to today’s Country Music Birthdays!

• Jimmy Ibbotson (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
• Mac Davis (d)
• Morgan Ashley
• Rick Trevino