On November 8, the brightest stars from across the country music pantheon descended on Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, as the 2023 CMA Awards victors are crowned.

Lainey Wilson once again lead the way in terms of nominations, picking up NINE nods including her first for Entertainer of the Year. She would go on to win the award, the first female artist to do so since 2011.

Ahead of the ceremony, HARDY and Lainey Wilson were unveiled as the winners of the 2023 CMA Musical Event of the Year and CMA Music Video of the Year for their haunting duet, ‘wait in the truck’.

One artist that went toe-to-toe with the ‘Watermelon Moonshine’ hitmaker is first-time nominee Jelly Roll, who followed up Wilson with the second most nominations with five, including Single of the Year. He went on to win the award for Best New Artist.

Luke Combs, Tracey Chapman, Chris Stapleton, Old Dominion, Brothers Osborne and Jenee Fleenor closed out the esteemed list of winners, with Wilson coming out on top with 5 awards.

The night provided a glorious who's who of some country's biggest names performing well-known favourites and surprising covers.

Post Malone joined Morgan Wallen and HARDY to perform a pair of Joe Diffie covers. The performance was introduced by Diffie's son Parker Diffie, who went on to announce that the performance was to launch the much anticipated HIXTAPE 3: DIFFTAPE - a compilation album dedicated to the work of Diffie.

If one big ensemble performance wasn't enough, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson paid tribute the late great Jimmy Buffet, performing a selection of his classic songs for those in attendance and watching at home.

In other surprises, Wallen appeared on stage earlier in the evening to perform ‘Man Made A Bar’ with Eric Church, while Wynonna joined Jelly Roll to perform his song 'Need A Favour'.

The evening's co-host, Luke Bryan, took to the stage for a special medley of some of his greatest hits, while Carly Pearce joined Chris Stapleton for a live version of their 2023 duet, ‘We Don't Fight Anymore’. Stapleton also returned to the stage for a fiery performance of his single, ’White Horse’.

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 (WINNER)

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

• “Fast Car” – Luke Combs (WINNER)
  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 (WINNER)
  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” (WINNER)
  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 (WINNER)

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Luke Combs
• Jelly Roll
• Cody Johnson
• Chris Stapleton (WINNER)
• Morgan Wallen

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Lady A
• Little Big Town
• Midland
• Old Dominion (WINNER)
• Zac Brown Band

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

• Brooks & Dunn
• Brothers Osborne (WINNER)
• 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) (WINNER)
  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 (WINNER)
• 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) (WINNER)
  Director: Justin Clough

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Zach Bryan
• Jelly Roll (WINNER)
• Parker McCollum
• Megan Moroney
• Hailey Whitters

PERFORMERS:

Morgan Wallen, HARDY & Post Malone - 'John Deere Green' and 'Pick-Up Man' (Joe Diffie Medley)

Morgan Wallen & Eric Church - ‘Man Made A Bar’

Kelsea Ballerini - ‘Leave Me Again’

Luke Combs - ‘Where The Wild Things Are’

Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Mac McAnally & Alan Jackson - Jimmy Buffett Tribute

Dan + Shay - ‘Save Me The Trouble’

Jordan Davis - ‘Next Thing You Know’

Cody Johnson - ‘The Painter’

Ashley McBryde - ‘Light On In The Kitchen’

The War and Treaty - ‘That's How Love Is Made’

Jelly Roll and Wynonna Judd - ‘Need A Favor’

Lainey Wilson - ‘Wildflowers and Wild Horses’

Chris Stapleton - ‘White Horse’

Luke Bryan - Medley, ‘Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day’, ‘One Margarita’, ‘That’s My Kind Of Night’, ‘Play It Again’ and ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me)’

Jelly Roll & K. Michelle - ‘Love Can Build A Bridge’

Tanya Tucker & Little Big Town - ‘Delta Dawn’

Carly Pearce & Chris Stapleton - ‘We Don't Fight Anymore’

Megan Moroney & Old Dominion - ‘Can't Break Up Now’

For more on the CMA Awards, see below:

Photography by Laura Ord.