Well deserved, and long overdue.
Cody Johnson scored the title Best New Country Artist at the tenth annual iHeartRadio Music Awards, held in Los Angeles on Monday night. He secured the win over the four other nominees in the category, Bailey Zimmerman, Elle King, Elvie Shane and Priscilla Block.
If you’ve been following the former bull rider since the days of “Dance Her Home” and “Me and My Kind,” you probably don’t consider CoJo a “new” artist. He’s been at this a while, but has only recently begun to get the recognition he deserves, with last night’s award being his second major win of the year after taking home a GRAMMY for “‘Til You Can’t” back in February.
“’Til You Can’t” has also received both CMA and CMT Awards honors in the past year, making this track a big-time breakthrough for Cody Johnson. He opened up about his journey and shared this song’s significance in an interview last year, saying “I’ve worked for over 15 years in the country music industry. I’ve played just about every bar, honkytonk, nightclub, and festival there is along the way, with the goal always in mind of having my brand of country music played at the level to achieve a #1 hit. God’s timing is perfect, and here we are…The road to this point hasn’t always been easy or fun, but something worth achieving is rarely an easy task. Thanks to everyone who has had a hand in making ‘’Til You Can’t’ such a special song for me and my family. It means the world to us.”
“‘Til You Can’t” was the lead single from “Human: The Double Album,” Johnson’s second major label record, released in 2021. It’s been the biggest career hit for the Texas artist, so it’s only right this was the song he performed after being named iHeartRadio’s “Best New Country Artist” of 2023.
Watch the newly crowned Best New Country Artist perform at Monday night’s award show here: