The 55th Annual Country Music Association Awards were presented on Wednesday night, November 10, during a live ceremony hosted by Luke Bryan that aired on ABC. So who were the big winners? Scroll down for the complete list in all categories, updated as they were announced throughout the night.
Eric Church entered these awards as the defending champion, having won last year’s Entertainer of the Year prize in an upset. He also tied as this year’s most nominated artist with five bids. He was up for Entertainer again, in addition to Album of the Year for “Heart,” Single of the Year and Song of the Year for “Hell of a View,” and Male Vocalist of the Year.
Also nominated five times was Chris Stapleton, who went head-to-head with Church in all of the same categories: Entertainer of the Year (which Stapleton had yet to win), Album of the Year for “Starting Over,” Single of the Year and Song of the Year for the title track, and Male Vocalist of the Year. Stapleton has won more previous CMA Awards overall than Church (10 to 4), so was tonight finally the night for him to take top honors?
A couple of categories were decided before the show even started, and they both had the same winner. It was announced on Wednesday morning that Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney‘s collaboration “Half of My Hometown” prevailed for both Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year. Who joined them in the winner’s circle? Find out below.
Entertainer of the Year
Eric Church
X — Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Single of the Year
“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)
X — “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton
(Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton; Mix Engineer: Vance Powell)
Album of the Year
“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)
X — “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton
(Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton; Mix Engineer: Vance Powell)
Song of the Year
“Forever After All” – Songwriters: Luke Combs, Drew Parker, Robert Williford (Luke Combs)
“The Good Ones” – Songwriters: Gabby Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, Jim McCormick (Gabby Barrett)
“Hell Of A View” – Songwriters: Casey Beathard, Eric Church, Monty Criswell (Eric Church)
“One Night Standards” – Songwriters: Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde (Ashley McBryde)
X — “Starting Over” – Songwriters: Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton (Chris Stapleton)
Female Vocalist of the Year
Gabby Barrett
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Maren Morris
X — Carly Pearce
Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
X — Chris Stapleton
Vocal Group of the Year
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
X — Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks and Dunn
X — Brothers Osborne
Dan and Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie and Tae
Musical Event of the Year
“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 and Miranda Lambert
Producer: Martin Johnson
“Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young
X — “Half of My Hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini featuring Kenny Chesney
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins
Musician of the Year
X — Jenee Fleenor, fiddle
Paul Franklin, steel guitar
Aaron Sterling, drums
Ilya Toshinskiy, banjo
Derek Wells, guitar
Music Video of the Year
“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
X — “Half of My Hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini featuring Kenny Chesney
Director: Patrick Tracy
“Younger Me” – Brothers Osborne
Director: Reid Long
New Artist of the Year
X — Jimmie Allen
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Mickey Guyton
HARDY
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