Here Are the 55th Annual CMA Awards Nominations

Who's going to take home the 2021 hardware?

Written by Chris Parton
Here Are the 55th Annual CMA Awards Nominations
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 07: Eric Church performs on stage during day 2 for the 2019 CMA Music Festival on June 07, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

The nominees for the 55th annual CMA Awards were announced Thursday morning (September 9), with a mix of familiar stars and new face dotting a strong 2021 field.

Led by defending Entertainer of the Year, Eric Church, and Chris Stapleton, who both carry five nominations into the highly anticipated evening, the list of nominees also finds Gabby Barrett securing four nods, while Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris and Chris Young all scored three. Notably included was Morgan Wallen, who is nominated for Album of the Year, while longtime favorite Luke Bryan only scored one nomination — up for Musical Event of the Year for “Buy Dirt” with Jordan Davis.

The 55th annual CMA Awards will take place in Nashville Wednesday, November 10, airing live on ABC at 8:00 – 11:00 PM/EST.

THE 55th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS – FINAL NOMINEES:   

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

  • Eric Church  
  • Luke Combs   
  • Miranda Lambert    
  • Chris Stapleton  
  • Carrie Underwood   

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”   
    Songwriters: Luke Combs, Drew Parker, Robert Williford  
  • “The Good Ones”   
    Songwriters: Gabby Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, Jim McCormick 
  • “Hell Of A View”   
    Songwriters: Casey Beathard, Eric Church, Monty Criswell  
  • “One Night Standards”   
    Songwriters: Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde 
  • “Starting Over”   
    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