Awards season is slowly rolling in the country music world with the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards set for May 16 and the CMT Awards airing on April 7.
CMT officially announced their nominees for the award ceremony with Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, Cody Johnson and Lainey Wilson leading the way with the most nominations.
Kelsea Ballerini is returning as the show’s host for the fourth year in a row. Airing at 8 p.m. ET on CBS live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, the show will simultaneously stream live on Paramount+.
Fan voting is already open at vote.cmt.com and will run until April 1. However, voting for Video of the Year will run until the end of the live show on April 7.
While Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney and Kelsea Ballerini lead the way with three nominations each, fan-favorites, Koe Wetzel, Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers also received nominations. For Childers, Wetzel and Bryan, these are their first CMT Award nominations to date. In fact, 14 artists received their first nominations this year.
Zach Bryan earned his first-ever nominations for Male Video of the Year and Breakthrough Male Video of the Year for “Nine Ball” and “Oklahoma Smokeshow” respectively.
Tyler Childers, on the other hand, doubled-dipped, having the highly controversial video for “In Your Love” nominated for both Male Video of the Year and Breakthrough Male Video of the Year.
Finally, Koe Wetzel earned his first nomination for his feature on Ella Langley’s “That’s Why We Fight,” which is nominated for Collaborative Video of the Year.
Though there are a lot of your traditional mainstream Nashville country stars present in this year’s CMT Awards, the fact that independent and alternative country acts like Bryan, Childers and Wetzel is extremely encouraging for fans of the indie scene.
A full list of nominees are the following:
Video of the Year
- Ashley McBryde – “Light On In The Kitchen”
- Brandy Clark feat. Brandi Carlile – “Dear Insecurity”
- Brothers Osborne – “Nobody’s Nobody”
- Cody Johnson – “The Painter”
- Darius Rucker – “Fires Don’t Start Themselves”
- HARDY – “Truck Bed”
- Jason Aldean – “Let Your Boys Be Country”
- Jelly Roll – “Need A Favor”
- Jordan Davis – “Next Thing You Know”
- Kacey Musgraves – “Deeper Well”
- Kelsea Ballerini – “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)”
- Lainey Wilson – “Watermelon Moonshine”
- Mickey Guyton feat. Kane Brown – “Nothing Compares To You”
- Parmalee – “Gonna Love You”
- Tyler Childers – “In Your Love”
- Zach Bryan – “Nine Ball”
Female Video of the Year
- Ashley McBryde – “Light On In The Kitchen”
- Gabby Barrett – “Glory Days”
- Kacey Musgraves – “Deeper Well”
- Kelsea Ballerini – “Penthouse”
- Lainey Wilson – “Watermelon Moonshine”
- Megan Moroney – “I’m Not Pretty”
- Reba McEntire – “Seven Minutes In Heaven”
Male Video of the Year
- Bailey Zimmerman – “Religiously”
- Cody Johnson – “The Painter”
- HARDY – “Truck Bed”
- Jelly Roll – “Need A Favor”
- Jordan Davis – “Next Thing You Know”
- Luke Combs – “Fast Car (Official Live Video)”
- Morgan Wallen – “Last Night (One Record At A Time Sessions)”
Duo/group video of the year
- Brothers Osborne – “Nobody’s Nobody”
- Dan + Shay – “Save Me The Trouble”
- Old Dominion – “Memory Lane”
- Parmalee – “Girl In Mine”
- The War And Treaty – “Have You A Heart”
- Tigirlily Gold – “Shoot Tequila”
Collaborative Video of the Year
- Carly Pearce feat. Chris Stapleton – “We Don’t Fight Anymore”
- Ella Langley feat. Koe Wetzel – “That’s Why We Fight”
- Jon Pardi, Luke Bryan – “Cowboys And Plowboys”
- Justin Moore & Priscilla Block – “You, Me And Whiskey”
- Lukas Nelson + Promise of The Real feat. Lainey Wilson – “More Than Friends”
- Mickey Guyton feat. Kane Brown – “Nothing Compares To You”
- Old Dominion & Megan Moroney – “Can’t Break Up Now”
Breakthrough Female Video of the Year
- Anne Wilson – “Rain In The Rearview”
- Ashley Cooke – “your place”
- Brittney Spencer – “Bigger Than The Song”
- Tigirlily Gold – “Shoot Tequila”
Breakthrough Male Video of the Year
- Chayce Beckham – “23”
- Tyler Childers – “In Your Love”
- Warren Zeiders – “Pretty Little Poison”
- Zach Bryan – “Oklahoma Smokeshow”
CMT Performance of the Year
- Amber Riley – “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” (from CMT Smashing Glass)
- Bret Michaels & Chris Janson – “Nothing But a Good Time” (from CMT Crossroads)
- Carrie Underwood – “Hate My Heart” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
- Cody Johnson – “Human” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
- Dierks Bentley – “Drunk On A Plane” (from CMT Storytellers)
- Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter – “Thinking ‘Bout You” (from CMT Campfire Sessions)
- Hozier & Maren Morris – “Take Me To Church” (from CMT Crossroads)
- Jelly Roll – “Need a Favor” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
- Kelsea Ballerini – “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
- The War And Treaty – “On My Own” (from CMT Smashing Glass)
CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year
- Chase Rice – “Goodnight Nancy” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
- Dylan Scott – “Don’t Close Your Eyes (Keith Whitley Cover)” (from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions)
- Megan Moroney – “I’m Not Pretty” (from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions)
- Nate Smith – “Whiskey On You” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
- Stephen Wilson Jr. – “Year to Be Young 1994” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
- Scotty McCreery – “It Matters To Her” (from CMT Stages)
- The Castellows – “I Know It Will Never End” (from CMT Studio Sessions)