Lainey Wilson Leads Nominations List for the 56th Annual CMA Awards

When you’re up for your first CMA Awards nominations, you might as well make a big splash, right? Well, that’s the case for first-time nominee Lainey Wilson who started her day with the news of receiving six nominations. The Louisiana native leads the pack with nods in the Female Vocalist, Album (Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’), New Artist, Song (“Things A Man Oughta Know”), Music Video (“Never Say Never”) and Musical Event (“Never Say Never”) categories. This makes Lainey the fourth artist in the history of the CMA Awards to achieve six nominations right out of the gate, joining a list that includes Glen Campbell (1968), Brad Paisley (2000), and Kacey Musgraves (2013).

Chris Stapleton, Carly Pearce, and Ashley McBryde all receive five nominations. With nods in the Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Music Video (“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”), Single (“You Should Probably Leave”), and Song (“You Should Probably Leave”) categories, Chris extends his career nominations tally to 39. As for Carly and Ashley, their pairing for “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” proved to be powerful. The song and its video earned them recognition in the categories of Music Video, Musical Event, Single, and Song of the Year. Both artists are also up for Female Vocalist of the Year, an award that Carly took home last year.

For his 30-plus years of “keeping it country,” Country Music Hall of Fame member Alan Jackson will be honored with the 2022 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Through the years, Alan has had many memorable moments during the annual awards show including the debut performance of “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” in 2001. During his career, he was named CMA Entertainer of the Year three times (1995, 2002, and 2003).

Ahead of the show, winners were announced in the Musical Event and Music Video of the Year categories during Wednesday morning’s broadcast of ABC’s Good Morning America. Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde’s “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” was named Musical Event of the Year. This is Carly’s second win in that category. In 2020, she took home her first win with Lee Brice for their chart-topping collaboration “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” And, Cody Johnson wins his first-ever CMA Award as “‘Til You Can’t” was named Music Video of the Year.

Check out the full list of nominations below. And, don’t miss The 56th Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, LIVE from Nashville Wednesday, November 9th, at 8/7c, on ABC.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs  
Miranda Lambert   
Chris Stapleton 
Carrie Underwood  
Morgan Wallen

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer 

“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley

“half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins
Mix Engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat

“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore

“’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke

“You Should Probably Leave” – 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)

Growin’ Up – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix Engineers: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews

Humble Quest – Maren Morris
Producer: Greg Kurstin
Mix Engineer: Serban Ghenea

Palomino – Miranda Lambert
Producers: Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Mikey Reaves
Mix Engineer: Jason Lehning

Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineer: F. Reid Shippen

Time, Tequila & Therapy – Old Dominion
Producers: Shane McAnally, Old Dominion
Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank

SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriter(s) 

“Buy Dirt”
Songwriters: Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins

“Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce

“Sand In My Boots” 
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Josh Osborne

“Things A Man Oughta Know”
Songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson

“You Should Probably Leave”
Songwriters: Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Chris Stapleton

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR  

Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Lainey Wilson

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Eric Church
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen

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
LOCASH
Maddie & Tae

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s) 

“Beers On Me” – Dierks Bentley with BRELAND & HARDY
Producers: Dierks Bentley, Ross Copperman

“If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
Producer: Michael Knox

“Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
Producers: Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

“Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
Producer: Zach Crowell

“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde — WINNER
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
Paul Franklin, Steel guitar
Brent Mason, Guitar
Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo
Derek Wells, Guitar

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR 
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s) 

“I Bet You Think About Me” (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) – Taylor Swift (featuring Chris Stapleton)
Director: Blake Lively

“Longneck Way To Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
Director: Harper Smith

“Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
Director: Michael Monaco

“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Director: Alexa Campbell

“’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson — WINNER
Director: Dustin Haney

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR  

HARDY
Walker Hayes
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum
Lainey Wilson

CMA WILLIE NELSON LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Alan Jackson

Main Image: Alysse Gafkjen (Lainey Wilson) / Allister Ann (Carly Pearce) / Eric Ryan Anderson (Ashley McBryde) / Becky Flute (Chris Stapleton)

Article Image: CMA

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