CMA Awards

The 2023 CMA Awards are going down Wednesday night (Nov. 8) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, so now we wait and see: Who will emerge the night’s big winner?
Lainey Wilson heads into the show as the leading nominee, with nine nods. (In fact, she and her “wait in the truck” collaborator HARDY already took home two prizes for their hit duet before the show.) Next up is Jelly Roll with five nods, Luke Combs and HARDY with four, and Jordan Davis, Ashley McBryde, producer/mix engineer Joey Moi, songwriter/producer Jordan Schmidt, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen and musician/producer Derek Wells with three.

You can follow along with Billboard below to see who leaves the night’s top winner.

Entertainer of the year

Luke Combs

Chris Stapleton

Carrie Underwood

Morgan Wallen

Lainey Wilson

Single of the year

Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)

“Fast Car” – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews

“Heart Like a Truck” – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce

“Need a Favor” – Jelly Roll; Producer: Austin Nivarel; Mix Engineer: Jeff Braun

“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis; Producer: Paul DiGiovanni; Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley

“wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson); Producers: HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells; Mix Engineer: Joey Moi

Album of the year  

Award goes to Artist, Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde; Producers: John Osborne, John Peets; Mix Engineers: Gena Johnson, John Osborne

Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce

Gettin’ Old – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Mix Engineers: Michael H. Brauer, Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews

One Thing at a Time – Morgan Wallen; Producers: Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Joey Moi, Cameron Montgomery; Mix Engineers: Josh Ditty, Joey Moi, Eivind Nordland

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini; Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym; Mix Engineers: Dan Grech-Marguerat, Alysa Vanderheym

Song of the year 

Award goes to Songwriter(s)

“Fast Car”; Songwriter: Tracy Chapman

“Heart Like a Truck”; Songwriters: Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson

“Next Thing You Know”; Songwriters: Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne

“Tennessee Orange”; Songwriters: David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney, Ben Williams

“wait in the truck”; Songwriters: Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt

Female vocalist of the year 

Kelsea Ballerini

Miranda Lambert

Ashley McBryde

Carly Pearce

Lainey Wilson

Male vocalist of the year

Luke Combs

Jelly Roll

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

Maddie & Tae

The War And Treaty

Musical event of the year 

Award goes to Artists and Producer(s) 

“Save Me” – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson); Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina (Remix)” – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina; Producer: Zach Crowell

“Thank God” – Kane Brown (with Katelyn Brown); Producer: Dann Huff

WINNER: “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson); Producers: HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells

“We Don’t Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce (featuring Chris Stapleton); Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce

Musician of the year

Jenee Fleenor

Paul Franklin

Rob McNelley

Derek Wells

Charlie Worsham

Music video of the year 

Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)

“Light on in the Kitchen” – Ashley McBryde; Director: Reid Long

“Memory Lane” – Old Dominion; Directors: Mason Allen, Nicki Fletcher

“Need a Favor” – Jelly Roll; Director: Patrick Tohill

“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis; Director: Running Bear

WINNER: “wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson); Director: Justin Clough

New artist of the year

Zach Bryan

Jelly Roll

Parker McCollum

Megan Moroney

Hailey Whitters

2023 CMA Broadcast Awards

Finalists for broadcast personality of the year (by market size):

Weekly National

“American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Cumulus/Westwood One

WINNER: “Country Countdown USA” (Lon Helton) – Compass Media Networks

“Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Silverfish Media

“On The Horizon with Buzz Brainard” (Buzz Brainard) – SiriusXM

“Y’all Access with Kelly Sutton” (Kelly Sutton) – Firefly Media/Silverfish Media

Daily National

WINNER: “Angie Ward” – iHeartMedia

“The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek “Big D” Haskins, Sean “Bubba” Powell, Patrick Thomas, and Carsen Humphreville) – Silverfish Media

“Katie & Company” (Katie Neal) – Audacy

“Nights with Elaina” (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One

“The Sam Alex Show” (Sam Alex) – Sam Alex Productions, LLC

Major Market

“Chris Carr & Company” (Chris Carr, Kia Becht, and Sam Sansevere) – KEEY, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.

“Frito & Katy” (Tucker “Frito” Young and Katy Dempsey) – KCYY, San Antonio, Texas

WINNER: “Hawkeye in the Morning with Hawkeye and Michelle” (“Hawkeye” Mark Louis Rybczyk and Michelle Rodriguez) – KSCS, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

“Josh, Rachael & Grunwald” (Josh Holleman, Rachael Hunter, and Steve Grunwald) – WYCD, Detroit, Mich.

“Scotty Kay” (Scotty Kay) – WUSN, Chicago, Ill.

Large Market

“The Big Dave Show” (“Big Dave” Chandler, Ashley Heiert, and Jason “Stattman” Statt) – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio

“The Morning Drive with Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews” (Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews) – KBEQ, Kansas City, Mo.

“Scott and Shannen” (Scott Dolphin and “Shannen O” Oesterreich) – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.

“Tim & Chelsea In The Morning” (Tim Leary and Chelsea Taylor) – WIRK, West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.

WINNER: “The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Tay Hamilton) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.

Medium Market

“Cait & Bradley Morning Show” (Cait Fisher and Matt Bradley) – KWEN, Tulsa, Okla.

“Clay & Company” (Clay Moden, Rob Banks, and Kadie Daye) – WYRK, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

“Ellis and Bradley Show” (Bill Ellis and Beth Bradley) – WSSL, Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.

WINNER: “Mo & StyckMan” (Melissa “Mo” Wagner and Greg “StyckMan” Owens) – WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa

Small Market

“The B100 Morning Show with Brittney Baily” (Brittney Baily) – WBYT, South Bend, Ind.

“The Eddie Foxx Show” (Eddie Foxx and Amanda Foxx) – WKSF, Asheville, N.C.

“Officer Don & DeAnn” (“Officer Don” Evans and DeAnn Stephens) – WBUL, Lexington-Fayette, Ky.

“Steve & Tiffany in the Morning” (Steve Waters and Tiffany Kay) – WFLS, Fredericksburg, Va.

WINNER: “Steve, Ben and Nikki” (Steve Stroud, Ben Walker, and Nikki Thomas) – WXBQ, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.

Finalists for radio station of the year (by market size): 

Major Market

KCYY – San Antonio, Texas

WINNER: KEEY – Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn.

KKBQ – Houston, Texas

KSCS – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.

Large Market

WIRK – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.

WKDF – Nashville, Tenn.

WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.

WINNER: WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio

WWKA – Orlando, Fla.

Medium Market

WINNER: KUZZ – Bakersfield, Calif.

KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa

WGGY – Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.

WPCV – Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.

WQMX – Akron, Ohio

Small Market

KCLR – Columbia, Mo.

WBYT – South Bend, Ind.

WKML – Fayetteville, N.C.

WINNER: WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.

WYCT – Pensacola, Fla.