All the CMA Awards Winners for Vocal Duo of the Year Who Have Won Multiple Times

Won: 2019, 2020

Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney took home the vocal duo of the year twice, pausing Brothers Osborne’s winning streak. In 2019, the same year Dan + Shay took home their first duo of the year win, they also landed the Billboard Hot 100 top five hit “10,000 Hours,” a collaboration with Justin Bieber, and the four-week Hot Country Songs chart-topper “Tequila.” “10,000 Hours” spent 21 weeks at the pinnacle of the Hot Country Songs chart between 2019 and 2020. Mooney and Smyers first met at a party in Nashville in 2012 and quickly began writing songs and performing together. In 2013, they released their debut single, “19 You + Me.”

Won: 1978, 1979

As Rogers was having his own massive country chart hits including “The Gambler” and “Lucille,” he also teamed with West in a pairing that brought both a string of popular collaborations. Beginning with 1978’s “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” and “Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight,” their hits continued with songs including their remake of Sonny & Cher’s pop hit “All I Ever Need Is You” and their take on the Tammy Wynette classic “’Til I Can Make It On My Own.”

Won: 1970, 1971

In 1967, Wagoner welcomed then-newcomer Parton as a performer on his The Porter Wagoner Show. The vocal chemistry between the two was quickly apparent, and they released more than 20 duets together including 1969’s “Just Someone I Used to Know,” 1973’s “If Teardrops Were Pennies” and their 1974 Hot Country Singles chart-topper “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me.” Parton and Wagoner were the inaugural winners of the CMA’s vocal duo of the year honor when it was introduced in 1970 and  won again the following year.

Won: 1981, 1982

Frizzell and West earned a pair of vocal duo of the year wins in the early 1980s, thanks to hits including “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma,” (included in the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can), “A Texas State of Mind,” and “I Just Came Here to Dance.” West is the daughter of another multi-winner in this category, Dottie West.

Won: 2013-15

On the strength of their hits including “Cruise,” which was ultimately RIAA-certified Diamond, the duo earned a trio of consecutive wins in the category. Florida-born Brian Kelley and Georgia-born Tyler Hubbard first met in 2008 while both were students at Nashville’s Belmont University. They issued a pair of independently released EPs, with “Cruise” included on their 2012 It’z Just What We Do EP and later their Republic Nashville debut album Here’s to the Good Times, becoming their breakout hit. They continued with hits including “H.O.L.Y.” and “This is How We Roll.” Over the past couple of years, both Kelley and Tyler have focused on their respective solo careers.

Won: 1988-91

Mother-daughter duo The Judds took home the vocal duo of the year honor from 1988-1991, thanks to hits including “Love Can Build a Bridge,” “Young Love (Strong Love),” and “Turn It Loose,” as well as their charismatic concert performances. The duo, composed of Naomi Judd and Wynonna Judd, are the first and only all-female duo to win in this category. It’s notable that The Judds won either in vocal group of the year or vocal duo of the year for seven consecutive years; in the first three of those years, the vocal duo of the year category was intended only for one-off collaborations between solo artists, not full-fledged duo acts. That shift came in 1988, with the category being devoted to established duos.

Won: 1972-75

One of country music’s all-time most popular duet partnerships thanks to collaborations including “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” and “After the Fire Is Gone,” Lynn and Twitty collected four vocal duo of the year honors. They were nominated and/or won in the category for a dozen consecutive years, from 1971 through 1982.

Won: 2007-11

In 2007, Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush halted Brooks & Dunn’s nearly consecutive 14-year winning streak, securing their first win during their first year of nomination as a duo. (Sugarland had previously recorded as a trio, with Kristen Hall, notching nominations in the vocal group of the year category in 2005 and 2006.). As a duo, Sugarland also notched CMA nominations in categories including entertainer of the year (in 2008), single of the year (for “Stay” in 2008) and album of the year (for Love on the Inside in 2009).

Won: 2016-18; 2021-23

The reigning winners in the category, Brothers Osborne is poised to potentially pick up their seventh category win at the 2024 CMA Awards. The sibling duo of T.J. and John Osborne first won this honor in 2016, bolstered by their Billboard Country Airplay No. 2 hit “Stay a Little Longer,” ending Florida Georgia Line’s three-year winning streak.

Won: 1992-99; 2001-06  

Brooks & Dunn won the vocal duo of the year honor in their first year of being nominated, breaking The Judds’ streak of wins, and held on to the title for a nearly unbroken string of 14 years, save for 2000, when the accolade went to Montgomery Gentry. Brooks & Dunn’s Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn initially moved to Nashville to pursue solo careers, until music executive Tim DuBois suggested they join forces to become a duo. With songs including “Hard Workin’ Man,” “Neon Moon” and their 2006 CMA single of the year winner “Believe,” the duo has far and away the most wins in this category, becoming so synonymous with this category that the CMA’s vocal duo of the year trophy at times has been nicknamed “The Brooks & Dunn Award.” Brooks & Dunn also took home the CMA Awards’ entertainer of the year trophy in 1996.