The CMA has announced the finalists for the 2021 CMA Awards, as listed below. Performers for the show, which will air on ABC in November, will be announced at a later date.
The nominees and eventual winners will be under more scrutiny this year after Bobby Bones recently blasted the power players of the country music industry – the record labels, the ACM’s and the CMA’s, over their process for “picking” #1 songs and award winners.
One of the biggest surprises is the omission of Carrie Underwood and Kelsea Ballerini from the Female Vocalist of the Year category, though Underwood is in the Entertainer of the Year running. Also raising eyebrows is the inclusion of Mickey Guyton in the New Artist category, despite debuting with a charting single 6 years ago. While beautiful and talented, it feels like a guilt-induced pandering move at this point of her career after her talent was unfairly minimized all these years. Morgan Wallen’s inclusion of the Album of the Year category will surely anger some, despite the fact that the album has dominated the Billboard Country Albums chart all year despite his ban from radio (which is just now being lifted). Lastly, it’s great to see the likes of Kix Brooks, Terri Clark and Tracy Lawrence receive nominations, albeit in the broadcasting categories.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Carrie Underwood
- Chris Stapleton
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Miranda Lambert
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
- “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young
Mix Engineer: Sean Moffitt
- “The Good Ones” – Gabby Barrett
Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale
Mix Engineers: Chris Galland, Manny Marroquin
- “Hell Of A View” – Eric Church
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
- “One Night Standards” – Ashley McBryde
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
- “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
- 29 – Carly Pearce
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Jimmy Robbins
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
- Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen
Producers: Dave Cohen, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome and Joey Moi
Mix Engineer: Joey Moi
- Heart – Eric Church
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
- Skeletons – Brothers Osborne
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
- Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriter(s)
- “Forever After All” by Luke Combs
Songwriters: Luke Combs, Drew Parker, Robert Williford
- “The Good Ones” by Gabby Barrett
Songwriters: Gabby Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, Jim McCormick
- “Hell Of A View” by Eric Church
Songwriters: Casey Beathard, Eric Church, Monty Criswell
- “One Night Standards” by Ashley McBryde
Songwriters: Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde
- “Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
- Gabby Barrett
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Maren Morris
- Carly Pearce
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
- Dierks Bentley
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
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
- Florida Georgia Line
- Maddie & Tae
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s)
- “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
- “Chasing After You” – Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris
Producers: Aaron Eshuis, Teddy Reimer
- “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Elle King & Miranda Lambert
Producer: Martin Johnson
- “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young
- “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
- Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
- Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar
- Aaron Sterling, Drums
- Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo
- Derek Wells, Guitar
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)
- “Chasing After You” – Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris
Director: TK McKamy
- “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
Director: Peter Zavadil
- “Gone” – Dierks Bentley
Directors: Wes Edwards, Travis Nicholson, Ed Pryor, Running Bear, Sam Siske
- “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
Director: Patrick Tracy
- “Younger Me” – Brothers Osborne
Director: Reid Long
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Jimmie Allen
- Ingrid Andress
- Gabby Barrett
- Mickey Guyton
- HARDY
“THE 55th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS” – FINALISTS FOR BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR (by market size):
Weekly National
- “American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Westwood One
- “Country Countdown USA” (Lon Helton) – Westwood One
- “Country Gold” (Terri Clark) – Westwood One
- “The Crook & Chase Countdown” (Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase) – iHeartMedia
- “Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Compass Media Networks
Daily National
- “The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek Haskins, Sean Powell, Patrick Thomas and Carsen Humphreville) – Compass Media Networks
- “The Bobby Bones Show” (Bobby Bones, Amy Brown, “Lunchbox” Dan Chappell, Eddie Garcia, “Morgan #2” Huelsman, “Raymundo” Ray Slater, “Scuba Steve” Stephen Spradlin, “Mike D” Rodriguez and “Utility Hillary” Borden) – Premiere Networks
- “CMT After Midnite” (Cody Alan) – Premiere Networks
- “The Lia Show” (Lia Knight) – Westwood One
- “The Music Row Happy Hour” (Buzz Brainard and Ania Hammar) – Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Major Market
- “Angie Ward” – WUBL, Atlanta, Ga.
- “Double-L” (Lois Lewis) – KNIX, Phoenix, Ariz.
- “Hawkeye in the Morning with Hawkeye and Michelle” (“Hawkeye” Mark Louis Rybczyk and Michelle Rodriguez) – KSCS, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas
- “The Morning Bull: George, Mo & Cowboy Dave” (George Lindsey, “Mo” Monica Lunsford and “Cowboy Dave” Bayless) – KILT, Houston, Texas
- “Tampa Bay’s Morning Krewe with J.R., Launa and Kevin” (“J.R.” Jon Jaus, Launa Phillips and Kevin Ebel) – WQYK, Tampa Bay, Fla.
Large Market
- “Jesse Tack” – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
- “Jim, Deb & Kevin” (Jim Denny, Deborah Honeycutt and Kevin Freeman) – WFMS, Indianapolis, Ind.
- “Lexi & Banks” (“Lexi” Elena Abatgis and “Banks” Jared Danielson) – KUBL, Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo, Utah
- “Ridder, Scott and Shannen” (“Ridder” Shaun Ridderbush, Scott Dolphin, and Shannen Oesterreich) – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
- “The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Taylor Rosenberg) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.
Medium Market
- “Brent Michaels” – KUZZ, Bakersfield, Calif.
- “Ellis and Bradley Show” (Bill Ellis and Beth Bradley) – WSSL, Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
- “Julie and DJ in the Morning” (“Julie K” Kansy and “D.J. Thee Trucker” Dale Sellers) – WPCV, Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
- “Mo & StyckMan” (“Mo” Melissa Wagner and “StyckMan” Greg Owens) – WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.
- “Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Small Market
- “Barrett, Fox & Berry” (Bill Barrett, Tim Fox and Tracy Berry) – KKNU, Eugene-Springfield, Ore.
- “Dr. Shane and Tess in the Morning” (Shane Collins and Tess Connell) – WPAP, Panama City, Fla.
- “KTTS Morning Show with Nancy & Rick” (Nancy Simpson and Rick Moore) – KTTS, Springfield, Mo.
- “Liz & Scotty in the Morning” (Liz Del Grosso and Scotty Cox) – KCLR, Columbia, Mo.
- “Steve, Ben and Nikki” (Steve Stroud, Ben Walker and Nikki Thomas) – WXBQ, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
“THE 55th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS” – FINALISTS FOR RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (by market size): Major Market
- KNIX – Phoenix, Ariz.
- KNUC – Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.
- KYGO – Denver-Boulder, Colo.
- WNSH – New York City, N.Y.
- WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.
- WYCD – Detroit, Mich.
Large Market
- WFMS – Indianapolis, Ind.
- WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
- WQDR – Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
- WSIX – Nashville, Tenn.
- WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio
Medium Market
- KATM – Modesto, Calif.
- KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
- KUZZ – Bakersfield, Calif.
- WQMX – Akron, Ohio
- WXCY – Wilmington, Del.
Small Market
- KCLR – Columbia, Mo.
- KTTS – Springfield, Mo.
- WBYT – South Bend, Ind.
- WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
- WXFL – Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala.
- WYCT – Pensacola, Fla.
