CMA Awards 2023: Nominations, Performances & Tickets

In November, the brightest stars from across the country music pantheon will descend on Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, as the 2023 CMA Awards victors are crowned.

Lainey Wilson once again leads the way in terms of nominations, picking up NINE nods including her first for Entertainer of the Year.

One artist that will be going toe-to-toe with the ‘Watermelon Moonshine’ hitmaker is first-time nominee Jelly Roll, who follows up Wilson with the second most nominations with five, including Single of the Year.

Luke Combs, HARDY, Jordan Davis, Ashley McBryde, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen close out the most nominated artists, while there's also first time nods for Zach Bryan, Megan Moroney, The War and Treaty and Hailey Whitters.

For the full list of 2023 CMA awards and nominees, see below:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Luke Combs
• Chris Stapleton
• Carrie Underwood
• Morgan Wallen
• Lainey Wilson

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

• “Fast Car” – Luke Combs
  Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
  Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews
• “Heart Like A Truck” – Lainey Wilson
  Producer: Jay Joyce
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
• “Need A Favor” – Jelly Roll
  Producer: Austin Nivarel
  Mix Engineer: Jeff Braun
• “Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis
  Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
  Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley
• “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
  Producers: HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells
  Mix Engineer: Joey Moi

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde 
  Producers: John Osborne, John Peets
  Mix Engineers: Gena Johnson, John Osborne
• Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson 
  Producer: Jay Joyce
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
• Gettin' Old – Luke Combs 
  Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
  Mix Engineers: Michael H. Brauer, Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews
• One Thing At A Time – Morgan Wallen 
  Producers: Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Joey Moi, Cameron Montgomery
  Mix Engineers: Josh Ditty, Joey Moi, Eivind Nordland
• Rolling Up the Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini 
  Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym
  Mix Engineers: Dan Grech-Marguerat, Alysa Vanderheym

SONG OF THE YEAR

• “Fast Car”
  Songwriter: Tracy Chapman
• “Heart Like A Truck”
  Songwriters: Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson
• “Next Thing You Know”
  Songwriters: Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne
• “Tennessee Orange”
  Songwriters: David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney, Ben Williams
• “wait in the truck”
  Songwriters: Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Kelsea Ballerini
• Miranda Lambert
• Ashley McBryde
• Carly Pearce
• 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
• Midland
• Old Dominion
• 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

• “Save Me” – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)
  Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens
• “She Had Me At Heads Carolina (Remix)” – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina
  Producer: Zach Crowell
• “Thank God” – Kane Brown (with Katelyn Brown)
  Producer: Dann Huff
• “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
  Producers: HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells
• “We Don't Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce (featuring Chris Stapleton)
  Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Jenee Fleenor
• Paul Franklin
• Rob McNelley
• Derek Wells
• Charlie Worsham

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR

• “Light On In The Kitchen” – Ashley McBryde 
  Director: Reid Long
• “Memory Lane” – Old Dominion 
  Directors: Mason Allen, Nicki Fletcher
• “Need A Favor” – Jelly Roll 
  Director: Patrick Tohill
• “Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis 
  Director: Running Bear
• “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson) 
  Director: Justin Clough

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Zach Bryan
• Jelly Roll
• Parker McCollum
• Megan Moroney
• Hailey Whitters

2023 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS – FINALISTS FOR BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR (by market size): 

Weekly National

• “American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Cumulus/Westwood One
• “Country Countdown USA” (Lon Helton) – Compass Media Networks
• “Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Silverfish Media
• “On The Horizon with Buzz Brainard” (Buzz Brainard) – SiriusXM
• “Y’all Access with Kelly Sutton” (Kelly Sutton) – Firefly Media/Silverfish Media

Daily National

• “Angie Ward” – iHeartMedia
• “The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek “Big D” Haskins, Sean “Bubba” Powell, Patrick Thomas, and Carsen Humphreville) – Silverfish Media
• “Katie & Company” (Katie Neal) - Audacy
• “Nights with Elaina” (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One
• “The Sam Alex Show” (Sam Alex) – Sam Alex Productions, LLC

Major Market

• “Chris Carr & Company” (Chris Carr, Kia Becht, and Sam Sansevere) – KEEY, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
• “Frito & Katy” (Tucker “Frito” Young and Katy Dempsey) – KCYY, San Antonio, Texas
• “Hawkeye in the Morning with Hawkeye and Michelle” (“Hawkeye” Mark Louis Rybczyk and Michelle Rodriguez) – KSCS, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
• “Josh, Rachael & Grunwald” (Josh Holleman, Rachael Hunter, and Steve Grunwald) – WYCD, Detroit, Mich.
• “Scotty Kay” (Scotty Kay) – WUSN, Chicago, Ill.

Large Market

• “The Big Dave Show” (“Big Dave” Chandler, Ashley Heiert, and Jason “Stattman” Statt) – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
• “The Morning Drive with Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews” (Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews) – KBEQ, Kansas City, Mo.
• “Scott and Shannen” (Scott Dolphin and “Shannen O” Oesterreich) – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
• “Tim & Chelsea In The Morning” (Tim Leary and Chelsea Taylor) – WIRK, West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
• “The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Tay Hamilton) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.

Medium Market

• “Cait & Bradley Morning Show” (Cait Fisher and Matt Bradley) – KWEN, Tulsa, Okla.
• “Clay & Company” (Clay Moden, Rob Banks, and Kadie Daye) – WYRK, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
• “Ellis and Bradley Show” (Bill Ellis and Beth Bradley) – WSSL, Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
• “Mo & StyckMan” (Melissa “Mo” Wagner and Greg “StyckMan” Owens) – WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.
• “Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa

Small Market

• “The B100 Morning Show with Brittney Baily” (Brittney Baily) – WBYT, South Bend, Ind.
• “The Eddie Foxx Show” (Eddie Foxx and Amanda Foxx) – WKSF, Asheville, N.C.
• “Officer Don & DeAnn” (“Officer Don” Evans and DeAnn Stephens) – WBUL, Lexington-Fayette, Ky.
• “Steve & Tiffany in the Morning” (Steve Waters and Tiffany Kay) – WFLS, Fredericksburg, Va.
• “Steve, Ben and Nikki” (Steve Stroud, Ben Walker, and Nikki Thomas) – WXBQ, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.

2023 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS – FINALISTS FOR RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (by market size):

Major Market

• KCYY – San Antonio, Texas
• KEEY – Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn.
• KKBQ – Houston, Texas
• KSCS – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
• WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.

Large Market

• WIRK – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
• WKDF – Nashville, Tenn.
• WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
• WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio
• WWKA – Orlando, Fla.

Medium Market

• KUZZ – Bakersfield, Calif.
• KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
• WGGY – Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.
• WPCV – Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
• WQMX – Akron, Ohio

Small Market

• KCLR – Columbia, Mo.
• WBYT – South Bend, Ind.
• WKML – Fayetteville, N.C.
• WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
• WYCT – Pensacola, Fla.

The most coveted award of the evening is always the CMA Entertainer of the Year, with Luke Combs triumphing in this category at the 2022 instalment of the awards show. This year, the likes of Morgan Wallen, Carrie Underwood and 2023 ACM Entertainer of the Year winner, Chris Stapleton, will all be mounting formidable title-challenges.

Some correctly predicted that Wilson, given the immensely successful year she's enjoyed so far, would be a new introduction to the CMA Entertainer of the Year nominees roster in 2023.

The 2023 CMA Awards, which will take place on Wednesday, November 8, will once again be hosted by fan-favourite duo, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, who helmed the 2022 event.

For more on the CMA Awards, see below:

Photography by Laura Ord.