It’s Lainey Wilson’s world, and we’re just living in it!
Here is a complete list of this year’s CMA Award winners.
Entertainer of the Year
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
Lainey Wilson is the newest of the three artists who had never won this award before, and she emerged victorious. Wilson’s the first woman in twelve years to win in this category, and joins Taylor Swift, the Chicks, Shania Twain, Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn among the only eight female artists to win this award in 56 years.
Male Vocalist of the Year
Luke Combs
Jelly Roll
Cody Johnson
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Chris Stapleton didn’t repeat his ACM Entertainer of the Year win, but he did break his own record in this category, earning a historic seventh trophy. Vince Gill, Blake Shelton, and George Strait remain in second place with five wins each.
Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson
Lainey Wilson’s win was the evening’s most foregone conclusion, but it did break a notable recent trend in this category: this is the first time since 2015 that a woman has won in consecutive years.
Vocal Group of the Year
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
This category remains the most stagnant, with an identical lineup of nominees for three years running. Old Dominion won their sixth award, moving them into a tie with Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts for second place on the all-time list. The Statler Brothers are in first place with nine wins in the category.
Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty
Brothers Osborne won their sixth trophy in nine years, moving them past Sugarland to become the second most honored duo in this category’s history. The category’s all-time winners, Brooks & Dunn, have fourteen wins under their belts.
New Artist of the Year
Zach Bryan
Jelly Roll
Parker McCollum
Megan Moroney
Hailey Whitters
Jelly Roll’s big win of the evening came in the New Artist of the Year race. He got the endorsement of a living legend earlier on, as he performed with surprise guest Wynonna.
Album of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Luke Combs, Gettin’ Old
Ashley McBryde, Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville
Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time
Lainey Wilson, Bell Bottom Country
Lainey Wilson wins her first Album of the Year trophy for her sophomore set.
Single of the Year
“Fast Car” – Luke Combs
“Heart Like a Truck” – Lainey Wilson
“Need a Favor” – Jelly Roll
“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis
“wait in the truck” – HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson
Luke Combs’ remarkable year was acknowledged in this category, earning him his first Single of the Year win. With this victory, he has now taken home every major category he could be eligible for: Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Single, Song, Album, and New Artist of the Year.
Song of the Year
“Fast Car” – Tracy Chapman
“Heart Like a Truck” – Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, and Lainey Wilson
“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, and Josh Osborne
“Tennessee Orange” – David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney, and Ben Williams
“wait in the truck” – Renee Blair, HARDY, Hunter Phelps, and Jordan Schmidt
Tracy Chapman became the first Black songwriter to win this award for her bona fide classic, “Fast Car.”
Music Video of the Year
“Light On in the Kitchen” – Ashley McBryde; Director: Reid Long
“Memory Lane” – Old Dominion; Directors: Mason Allen and Nicki Fletcher
“Need a Favor” – Jelly Roll; Director: Patrick Tohill
“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis; Director: Running Bear
“‘wait in the truck” – HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson; Director: Justin Clough
This category’s historical preference for domestic violence revenge clips surfaces again, giving Hardy and Lainey Wilson a win for a video directed by Justin Clough.
Musical Event of the Year
“Save Me” – Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson
“She Had Me at Heads Carolina (Remix)” – Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina
“Thank God” – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
“wait in the truck” – HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson
“We Don’t Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce featuring Chris Stapleton
Lainey Wilson’s fifth award of the evening is a new record for a female artist at one show, surpassing the four competitive trophies won by the Chicks at the 2000 ceremony. Taylor Swift took home three competitive awards in 2009, and was also given the International Artist Achievement Award that evening.
Musician of the Year
Jenee Fleenor (Fiddle)
Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar)
Rob McNelley (Guitar)
Derek Wells (Guitar)
Charlie Worsham (Guitar)
Jenee Fleenor wins her fifth Musician of the Year award, moving her into a tie with Mark O’Connor for the fourth most wins in this category.
For those playing along, at least one of us accurately predicted the winner in 9 categories, which ain’t too shabby, percentage-wise.
And I’d say that at least one of them that we whiffed (EOTY) was way out of left field.
Good for Lainey, but Entertainer feels a little premature and in classic Music Row fashion she’s the only woman they’re giving any meaningful push to instead of spreading it out when McBryde probably should have won for Album.
Wilson does feel pretty early, especially compared to the first wave of women who won this award from 1972-1986: Loretta, Dolly, Barbara, and Reba.
I didn’t think Wilson had a chance because she was so early on in her career, but now that’s she’s won and I’ve looked back, it’s pretty consistent with the female artists who have won this award since 1999. All of them received it during the album cycle of their second successful album: Shania Twain (Come On Over), The Chicks (Fly), Taylor Swift (Fearless), and now Lainey Wilson (Bell Bottom Country.)
I’ll just never understand why Carrie Underwood isn’t on that list, though this lens helps me understand better why she’s never won. They took a really long time to start nominating her.
Kevin that may be, those other three acts all had MUCH bigger commercial success (including success outside of the country industry) than Wilson. It’s wild to me she has already won EOTY despite not even headlining a tour, while Underwood and Lambert have never won EOTY. That’s not a slight toward Wilson, as much as me wondering why she was able to win when those two were not.
It’s surprising to me. Even the Chicks didn’t win until after their headlining tour, and they got the award less than three years after their first single was released. On top of everything else, Wilson is on Broken Bow records, so she didn’t even have a huge label conglomerate behind her. Crazy that they were never able to deliver a win for Jason Aldean but Lainey Wilson got it so soon!
I think Lambert and Underwood were shortchanged in the 2010s because of the CMA circling back to veteran acts who were doing big tours: Garth, George, and Keith got five trophies between them, all in the years when Underwood and Lambert were peaking professionally.
…since there is a time parameter (eligibility period), i can’t understand, why even a total freshperson must not become “entertainer of the year”, if that person was the most entertaining one (or group) during that set period. lainey wilson clearly was a contender for this award – even though probably not the most obvious according to the cma guidelines, of which the most objective and defining is the eligibility period. she clearly was the collaborator and female voice of the year”, which might have given her the edge over the obvious favorites on all other accounts combs and wallen, who both would have been deserved winners too. in a just world even zach bryan or jelly roll should have been nominated possibly. then again, it’s an election process, which should not be put into question, if conducted properly along the rules.
I’m pleasantly surprised they gave the nod to Chapman for song of the year. You certainly can debate the merits of it being a “country” song, even as a Combs cover, it’s easily the best-written song of the bunch.
Also, I love Fleenor and she certainly is a great musician, but it’s ridiculous to me that Paul Franklin has never won a CMA.
Also something to consider is that “Fast Car”, in Tracy’s original iteration, was released in 1988, making it quite the durable song at thirty-five years. Quite a remarkable thing (IMHO).
Did they even say Keith Whitley’s name at when the recognized the new HOF inductees>
He was 2022. Not sure if they mentioned him last year.