The fan-voted CMT Music Awards, slated to take place on Sunday, April 2 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas and to air on CBS Television Network (and also streaming live and on-demand on Paramount+), will welcome an all-star slate of performers and presenters, including Carrie Underwood, Cody Johnson, Megan Thee Stallion, Shania Twain, Gwen Stefani, and Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown.
Brown and Kelsea Ballerini will co-host this year’s show, while Lainey Wilson is the leading nominee for this year’s awards, earning four nods including video of the year, female video of the year, collaborative video of the year and CMT performance of the year. Johnson, Brown and first-time CMT Music Awards nominee Jelly Roll follow with three nominations each.
Previously known as the CMT Flameworthy Music Video Awards, the awards show changed its name to the CMT Music Awards in 2005, and differentiated itself from other awards shows through its dedication to honoring music videos in a range of categories, including “Cameo of the Year” “Hottest Video of the Year” and “Most Inspiring Video of the Year” (all now-defunct categories). Presently, the awards show honors not only music videos, but top artist performances on various CMT shows over the past year, via the CMT performance of the year category. 2022 brought another momentous shift for the awards show, when the CMT Music Awards moved from CMT to a key timeslot on CBS Television Network.
Over the years, artists including The Judds, Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Zac Brown Band, Jennifer Nettles, Dwight Yoakam and Tanya Tucker have brought some of the most powerful moments in CMT Music Awards history, through unforgettable acceptance speeches, performances, promotional videos, unique collaborations and by honoring trailblazers and iconic artists within the country music genre.
As the CMT Music Awards gear up to add to the list of memorable moments on Sunday evening, we highlight 10 memorable moments from previous CMT Music Awards celebrations:
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The Judds’ Final Performance (2022)
On April 11, 2022, The Judds’ Wynonna Judd and Naomi Judd gave what would be their final television performance together during the CMT Music Awards, performing their 1990 signature hit “Love Can Build a Bridge,” backed by a gospel choir, in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville.
Just over two weeks later, Naomi Judd died on April 30, 2022, one day before The Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She was 76. Wynonna and her sister Ashley Judd attended the Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony to commemorate the induction, honoring the mother-daughter duo’s decades of success.
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Taylor Swift Celebrates First CMT Music Awards Win (2007)
Taylor Swift is now arguably the biggest pop star in the world, as she crosses the country on her Eras Tour this year. But back in 2007, she was celebrating what was touted as the first awards win of her professional career, when the then-teenager accepted the breakthrough video of the year win at the 2007 CMT Music Awards for her music video “Tim McGraw,” directed by Trey Fanjoy. Swift’s debut single, “Tim McGraw,” reached No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
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CMT Launches Equal Play Award (2020)
In 2020, Jennifer Nettles was honored with the inaugural CMT Equal Play award, which honored Nettles’ advocacy for women and diverse voices within the country music industry.
One year prior, Nettles used her CMT Music Awards red carpet appearance to put country radio on blast, wearing a suit with a cape emblazoned with the words, “Play our f*@#in’ records! Please & Thank You.” As female artists have continued to face an uphill battle in getting airplay on country radio, Nettles has been among the artists regularly speaking out and bringing visibility to the issue.
This year, Shania Twain will be honored with the CMT Equal Play Award; in 2021, Linda Martell was honored with the award for her groundbreaking work as a woman of color in country music. Martell was the first Black female artist to perform solo on the Grand Ole Opry, and released the album Color Me Country in 1970. Her song “Color Him Father” became her highest-charting song, reaching No. 22 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
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Johnny Cash Honored With Visionary Award (2003)
In April 2003, Johnny Cash was honored with the Visionary Award at the CMT Flameworthy Music Video Awards. Vince Gill hosted the tribute, which also included taped praises from stars including Rosanne Cash, U2’s Bono, Kris Kristofferson and the Dixie Chicks.
His wife, June Carter Cash, accepted on his behalf. The video is poignant, given that both Johnny and June Carter Cash died later that year, with June Carter passing on May 15, and the Man in Black passing away on Sept. 12.
“I come for my husband. I used to be just kind of an entertainer like a lot of you,” June Carter Cash told the crowd. “But I married Johnny Cash a long time ago. I just about done everything with him, so I came to thank you for this. This is beautiful…I accept this for him in all humility. He’s one of the most humble guys I know. He’s one of the best husbands that’s ever been and he’s just one of the best country music entertainers I’ve ever known.”
Following Cash’s passing, the accolade was renamed the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, and has been bestowed on artists including Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, and Hank Williams Jr.
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Zac Brown Has a Message For All the Haters (2019)
In June 2019, Zac Brown Band won the CMT Music Awards’ group video of the year honor, for their video clip “Someone I Used to Know.”
Taking the stage to accept the honor, ZBB lead singer Zac Brown had some pointed advice for aspiring artists, saying, “For you young artists, have courage to stand up against the machine, be yourself, work hard, and one day you can stand up here and tell all the haters to f**k off.”
Backstage at the event, Brown expanded on his comments to Billboard, saying, “I think we just have been ourselves the whole time. I have the best band in the world. We’re just artists and we love to make music and we have a fan base that loves what we do and follows us down all these different rabbit holes of what we like. We really love all different styles of music and to write all different kinds is really fulfilling to us. We don’t have to dance for anybody. That’s the greatest part about it, to really create what we want.”
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Chris Stapleton Teams With H.E.R. (2021)
Two top-notch singers and guitar shredders, Chris Stapleton and “Damage” hitmaker H.E.R., joined forces during the 2021 CMT Music Awards to perform “Hold On,” trading off guitar licks and vocal lines. The understated performance heavily showcased the talents of both performers. Stapleton later praise H.E.R. via Instagram, saying “H.E.R. is without a doubt one of the greatest singer/songwriter/guitar players on the planet earth. Fact.”
That wasn’t Stapleton’s only performance of the evening; he also performed a rendition of “Arkansas,” from his 2020 album Starting Over.
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Dwight Yoakam Honors Buck Owens (2006)
At the 2006 CMT Music Awards, Dwight Yoakam honored his late friend and mentor, Buck Owens, with a performance of Owens’s 1964 hit “I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail.”
Owens died in March 2006 at his ranch just north of Bakersfield, California. In 2007, Yoakam further honored his friend with the release of the album Dwight Sings Buck. The album includes renditions of “Crying Time,” “My Heart Skips a Beat” “Act Naturally” and more.
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Tanya Tucker’s All-Star Lineup (2019)
At the 2019 CMT Music Awards, the iconic Tanya Tucker performed her signature 1972 hit “Delta Dawn” with the help of an all-star lineup of friends, culminating with a chorus filled with luminous harmonies.
Brandi Carlile, Deana Carter, Martina McBride, Carly Pearce, RaeLynn and Trisha Yearwood joined Tucker during the awards show, held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, to pay homage to the song that became a hit with Tucker was just 13.
The performance coincided with the release of Tucker’s “Wheels of Laredo,” from her album While I’m Livin’. The Carlile and Shooter Jennings-produced album would go on to win Tucker her first two Grammy awards, for best country album, and best country song (“Bring My Flowers Now”).
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Shania Twain, Taylor Swift Team Up (2011)
The 2011 CMT Music Awards opened with a video of Taylor Swift and Shania Twain, and a double shot of attitude, in this wild mock movie “Taylor and Shania,” a spoof on the 1991 classic film Thelma & Louise.
The clip shows Swift getting dumped by a lover, just as she is about to head to the recording studio to record an album of love songs. She turns to friend and fellow artist Twain, who picks up Swift in a classic blue convertible. The two proceed to take off down the highway and find some mischief. Their hijinks make newspaper headlines, leading to a scene of Donald Trump (pre-Presidential run/win/indictment) looking up from his newspaper and saying, “If I could harness the power of these two women, I could control the world. They’re incredible.”
Kid Rock, actor Chord Overstreet and Kenny Rogers all make cameos, with Rogers singing a bit of his signature hit “The Gambler.”
As the video nears its end, Swift and Twain pick up Kid Rock, and then proceed to mimic the final scene of Thelma & Louise, as they drive the car off a cliff. The car careens over the edge and lands in a fireball of a crash, as the CMT Music Awards begin.
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Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert Bring the Fire (2014)
Two of country music’s best vocalists teamed up for “Somethin’ Bad,” as Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert offered a red-hot performance during the 2014 CMT Music Awards. The collaboration featured not only sterling vocals and plenty of attitude, but also an abundance of pyrotechnics, smoke and fire.
“Somethin’ Bad” was included on Lambert’s 2014 album Platinum and was a top 10 hit on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. In 2015, the video for “Somethin’ Bad” was named collaborative video of the year at the CMT Music Awards.
Lambert has won eight career CMT Music Awards and is nominated this year for female video of the year (“Actin’ Up”), while Underwood holds the record as the artist with the most CMT Music Awards wins in history, with 25 career wins. Underwood is nominated for the video of the year honor again in 2023, for “Hate My Heart,” and in the female video of the year category, for “Ghost Story.”
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