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ΩBillboard staff writer Jessica Nicholson is the recipient of the 2024 CMA Media Achievement Award, presented by the Country Music Association on Tuesday (Nov. 19) in Nashville.
Nicholson was surprised with news of her win backstage at Bridgestone Arena during rehearsals for the 58th Annual CMA Awards by two-time CMA Awards winner and performer this year Thomas Rhett.
Voted on by the publicist members of the CMA, the award recognizes the outstanding achievements of print and online journalists, columnists, authors, editors, television writers, producers and bookers and syndicated radio reporters in the media as they relate to country music.
In making its announcement, the CMA said, “Nicholson has been a consistent and valuable voice in amplifying the extensive growth of country music around the world since joining Billboard full time in 2021. With a rich history in country music journalism, prior to joining Billboard, Nicholson wrote for various publications including American Songwriter, CMT, Forbes, and more. She previously served as managing editor for music industry trade publication MusicRow Magazine and as a staff writer for Country Music publication Country Weekly.”
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“Country music has been a lifelong passion, and I feel very fortunate and humbled to join the lineage of journalists who have won this honor. Thank you to the Country Music Association, to everyone who voted and to Billboard for its unwavering support of country music coverage,” Nicholson says. “Thank you to everyone who has allowed me to be part of Nashville’s country music community, to help share the stories of this industry and its talented artists.”
“In her time at Billboard, Jessica’s love for and her vast knowledge of country music has been evident in every story she writes. She dives deep into each story, eager to shine a light on and amplify country music from both the artistic and business sides,” says Melinda Newman, Billboard’s executive editor, West Coast and Nashville. “She has greatly enriched Billboard’s coverage of country music from all facets.”
Four other Billboard writers have been presented with the CMA media achievement award — contributors Deborah Evans Price in 2013, the late Chuck Dauphin in 2014, Billboard Country Update editor Tom Roland in 2018 and Newman in 2020.
The 58th annual CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson, airs Wednesday (Nov. 20) on ABC and Nov. 21 on Hulu.
When one door closes, another opens. Or rather, when one Post Malone tour finishes, another much bigger one announces.
Through closing night on Oct. 27, Post grossed $63 million and sold 470,000 tickets on the F-1 Trillion Tour, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. And on Tuesday morning (Nov. 19), he announced The Big Ass Stadium Tour, which kicks off on April 29.
The move from amphitheaters to stadiums is a big one. The average capacity of Post’s fall shows was 18,786 seats, and the football stadiums on his 2025 route generally exceed 50,000. But all the F-1 Trillion Tour shows sold out – including two sprinkled-in stadiums in Boston and Nashville – and it appears he’s left some meat on the bone.
Post played a swift 25-show run in September and October, which is significantly less than the 39 shows on last year’s If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour ($81 million; 802,000 tickets), which immediately followed the 63-date Twelve Carat Tour ($138.6 million; 1.1 million tickets) that stretched from 2022 into 2023. Post is a proven road warrior, and his brief fall trek simply whetted his base’s appetite.
Plus, his fanbase is expanding, as Post further transitions from hip-hop to pop to country. His fall tour – and presumably his upcoming one – is in support of F-1 Trillion, a country album that hosted more than a dozen of the genre’s cross-generational superstars, from Dolly Parton to Tim McGraw to Lainey Wilson.
The pivot was successful, as F-1 Trillion topped the Billboard 200 with 250,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week, more than doubling each of his previous two studio LPs. And while 2023’s Austin didn’t land a top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100, this year’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, spent its first six weeks at No. 1 and remains in the top 10 half a year later (as of the Nov. 23-dated chart). If he was selling out arenas and amphitheaters off less successful albums and starved his audience of a robust 2024 tour on the back of a comeback, the stage is well set for next year’s stadium trek.
And if he needs some help, he has it in the form of special guest Jelly Roll. Featured on F-1 Trillion’s “Losers,” he’s on his own fall tour navigating arenas and amphitheaters across the United States. Through Nov. 17, the Beautifully Broken Tour has earned $71.9 million and sold 615,000 tickets. Five shows are left on the schedule, wrapping up on Nov. 26 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Quite notably, Jelly Roll’s 2024 tour has out-grossed and outsold Post’s own trek, positioning him as more than just an opening act as both artists prepare to play the biggest stages of their careers. But total volume does not tell the whole story: While Post has perhaps intentionally kept his routing sparse, Jelly hasn’t held back, as the latter’s show count is more than double the former’s. On a per-show level, Post is the stronger earner ($2.5 million vs. $1.4 million) and the bigger seller (18,786 vs. 12,291).
The initial announcement for The Big Ass Stadium Tour includes 25 dates, matching the length of Post’s fall tour. But while Post played to 470,000 fans in 2024, next year’s run will bring him to well over 1 million. It will all-but-certainly play as his highest-earning tour, flirting with a $200 million gross.
Dating back to Post Malone’s first show reported to Boxscore, a 2016 performance at Emo’s in Austin, Texas ($16,449; 660 tickets), he has grossed $415.6 million and sold 3.9 million tickets across 254 shows.
Country singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson was arrested on Sunday (Nov. 17) after he was pulled over for speeding by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, according to The Tennessean. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news He was charged in Williamson County with speeding and possession of drugs “with intent to […]
Post Malone appeared to let the cat out of the bag about two of his biggest 2025 tour dates. In an Instagram post announcing his most ambitious outing to date — next year’s Big Ass Stadium Tour with Jelly Roll — Malone also included a pair of shows on April 13 and 20 in Indio, […]
It’s a necessary fact of music-industry life that the conditions in which music is created are often different than the reality in which they’re consumed.
Christmas songs, for example, are often penned in spring or summer, and they’re frequently recorded when Nashville temperatures are still in the 80s or 90s. Similarly, artists typically develop future singles when their current releases are just beginning to grow, and many of their projections about follow-up material are educated guesses about how the already-finished songs might perform.
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In that spirit, Nate Smith’s new single – “Fix What You Didn’t Break,” released by RCA Nashville to country radio via PlayMPE on Oct. 28 – is an example of strong artistic instinct. It’s a power ballad, fueled by crunchy chords and Smith’s trademark rasp, though it’s something of a departure. His first three singles – “Whiskey On You,” “World On Fire” and “Bulletproof,” each of which reached the top 5 on Country Airplay – all incorporated that rasp into defiant post-breakup anthems. “Fix What You Didn’t Break” revises the message, embracing a plot that celebrates a woman who changed the outlook of a previously defeated romantic partner. It’s not exactly the formula Smith has employed thus far, and he’s acutely aware.
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“It’s kind of scary when you put your first kind of ballad out there,” he says. “But I do love this song so much.”
Understandably. Smith was a teenager in the late 1990s and early 2000s when pop/rock radio was spinning Lifehouse’s “You and Me,” 3 Doors Down’s “Here Without You,” Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and Goo Goo Dolls’ RIAA diamond-certified “Iris.” That sonic strain is part of Smith’s musical DNA, and provides permission to explore the emotions around successful relationships.“Guys,” he reasons, “are more sensitive than we get credit.”
Smith’s musical identity was still being forged for the public when he wrote “Fix” on July 11, 2023, at the home studio of producer Lindsay Rimes (LOCASH, Tyler Rich). They were joined by songwriters Ashley Gorley (“I Am Not Okay,” “Truck Bed”) and Taylor Phillips (“I Am Not Okay,” “Hurricane”) – the same team that authored “World On Fire,” which was just in its fourth charted week at the time on its way to becoming Smith’s second No. 1. They already had a sense that Smith needed to think about changing things up with his future radio-targeted releases.
“Our goal,” says Gorley, “is not just to try to get a song on them, but to have a hand in what they should do next, or what we think we’d like to hear from them personally next. This kind of checked all those boxes.”
Phillips submitted the title – “He always has the titles… it’s one of his expected roles,” Gorley says – and it didn’t take long to figure out that it fit a story about a woman who served as something of a savior for a guy who was lost. Rimes cranked up some chords on electric guitar that gave it some testosterone.“Lindsay, he’s always got that electric turned up so loud the neighbors can hear him,” Phillips quips.
The opening lines came early: “I was a 10-year train wreck/ With a last-call longneck.” They captured a guy numbing his pain with alcohol, and Smith says they drew on a past relationship that he hasn’t talked much about publicly. “It had been in the ballpark of 10 years since my divorce and what I went through before, when I left Nashville the first time,” he notes. “It kind of had a little nod of that.”
They mapped out the melody, still applying an anthemic attitude to “Fix,” even if it was a love song. One particularly attractive melodic segment, featuring short phrases and distinct-but-modest intervals, emerged during the work, though it wasn’t immediately apparent how to use it.
“We all dug the melody and the vibe of that section, and we were just trying to figure out where to put it,” Rimes remembers. “At the time, we might have thought that could be a verse, but it felt right as the pre-chorus.”
That pre-chorus was an ideal puzzle piece, easing from the opening verse into the first chorus. The verses themselves had their own forward motion thematically. While the opening stanza established the singer’s brokenness, the second verse focused on the woman, who saw him as salvageable and took the steps to revive his spirits, answering his prayers and picking up “the towel that I threw in.”
“One of my favorite lines – and I’m sure Taylor had something to do with it – is ‘Showed me the past ain’t a tattoo/ Loved me even when you didn’t have to,’” Gorley says. “That’s like a spiritual moment to be like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to be known for your past. It’s not with you forever. I’m gonna change that.’ That really goes with the theme.”
To cap it, they re-employed the pre-chorus as the bridge, figuring that the melody was so good it should be heard again.
“I don’t like doing a lot of pre-peats – it’s what I call them when you repeat the pre-chorus – but in that situation, what else can you say that’s better than that?” Phillips says. “The melody was so hooky, and it gave the song a second to breathe again before the last chorus.”
Rimes built the demo as the writing session progressed, adding programmed drums and bass around his guitar parts. When they thought they were done writing, Gorley took a swing at a scratch vocal, just to see if there were any issues that jumped out. Once he wrapped, Smith sang the real demo vocal, adding his rasp in all the right places.
“Fix What You Didn’t Break” languished for months, but Rimes brought it out this summer during a tracking session at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios with a five-piece band: drummer Evan Hutchings, bassist Mark Hill, guitarist Derek Wells, keyboardist Alex Wright and steel guitarist Justin Schipper. They found themselves with extra time at the end of the booking, and Rimes thought framing Smith’s demo vocal with a real band would better sell it to the team.
“I felt personally that the song wasn’t getting as much love as I felt it deserved, and it wasn’t finished,” Rimes says. “We were all focused on getting the album finished, and cutting songs and listening to new songs and stuff. I wanted to cut a band on this song, because I feel like it’s a huge hit.”
Sol Philcox-Littlefield came in later to drop a loud-but-simple guitar solo, and Smith spent hours finding places to add in backing vocals.
There were other options for singles, but multiple radio stations asked RCA to service it, presenting Smith in a slightly different light. It debuted on the Country Airplay chart dated Nov. 23, reminding listeners that the right situation can help overcome a past hardship.
“I feel like a good relationship exposes it,” Smith says, “but it also gives you the freedom to grow and the grace to forgive and understand that you’re going through this stuff, slowly refining.”
Two of the biggest names in country are hitting the road together next year. On Tuesday morning (Nov. 19), Post Malone announced the dates for his 2025 BIG ASS Stadium Tour, a 25-date spring/summer run that will team the “I Had Some Help” singer up with Jelly Roll for a run of baseball/football stadiums slated to kick off on April 29 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT.
The Live Nation-produced North American tour, Posty’s biggest headlining outing to date, will also feature support from Sierra Ferrell on select dates. After launching in SLC, the tour will hit Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and the Alamodome in San Antonio, before moving on to Dallas, Atlanta, St. Louis, Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, New York, Miami, Denver, and Portland before winding down on July 1 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
In his Instagram post announcing the tour, Malone included a poster with two other dates not featured in the official press release on April 13 and 20 in Indio, California, which coincides with the two weekends of the 2025 Coachella Festival and will not include Jelly or Ferrell; the lineup for next year’s Coachella has not yet been announced and spokespeople for Malone and Coachella had not returned a request for comment on the April dates at press time.
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Both Malone and Jelly are former rappers who’ve found great success in country music, with Malone hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart earlier this year with his feature-packed debut country album, F-1 Trillion, which has been nominated for a best country album Grammy award.
Fans in the U.S. and Canada can register for an artist presale now here, with the artist presale slated to begin on Friday (Nov. 22). Tickets will also be available first through a Citi presale in the U.S. beginning on Wednesday (Nov. 20) at 12 p.m. local time through Nov. 25 at 10 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program. Additional presales will take place ahead of the general onsale that kicks off on Nov. 26 at 12 p.m. local time here.
In addition, tour sponsor T-Mobile is giving customers exclusive access to preferred tickets on every U.S. date — even sold-out ones — with details available here.
The team-up with Malone comes just weeks after Jelly Roll wrapped up his biggest tour to date, the Beautifully Broken outing, which hit arenas across the U.S. on a bill featuring Warren Zeiders and Alexandra Kay.
Check out the dates for 2025’s Post Malone Presents: The Big Ass Stadium Tour:
April 29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rice-Eccles Stadium^
May 3 – Las Vegas, NV @ Allegiant Stadium^
May 7 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome^
May 9 – Dallas, TX @ AT&T Stadium^
May 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes Benz Stadium^
May 13 – St. Louis, MO @ Busch Stadium^
May 18 – Detroit, MI @ Ford Field^
May 20 – Minneapolis, MN @ U.S. Bank Stadium^
May 22 – Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field^
May 24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park^
May 26 – Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre^
May 28 – Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium^
May 29 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PNC Park^
May 31 – Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium
June 2 – Washington, DC @ Northwest Stadium
June 4 – New York, NY @ Citi Field
June 8 – Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium*
June 10 – Orlando, FL @ Camping World Stadium
June 13 – Ridgedale, MO @ Thunder Ridge Nature Arena
June 15 – Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High
June 21 – Glendale, AZ @ State Farm Stadium*
June 24 – Boise, ID @ Albertsons Stadium
June 26 – Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park
June 28 – Portland, OR @ Providence Park
July 1 – San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Park
*Without Jelly Roll
^With Sierra Ferrell
Chris Stapleton and Ashley Gorley were top winners of the 2024 ASCAP Country Music Awards, celebrating the songwriters and publishers of country music’s most-performed ASCAP songs of the past year. The awards were presented at an invitation-only gathering in Nashville on Monday (Nov. 18).
Stapleton received the ASCAP Country Music Songwriter/Artist of the Year honor. Gorley won his 11th ASCAP Country Music Songwriter of the Year honor, which is more than anyone else in the 62-year history of the ASCAP Country Music Awards.
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Stapleton and Gorley will be competing for song of the year at the CMA Awards on Wednesday. Stapleton is nominated for co-writing his own hit “White Horse”; Gorley for co-writing “I Had Some Help,” the Post Malone smash featuring Morgan Wallen. Fun Fact: Stapleton and Gorley, both Kentucky natives, were born just 34 miles and less than one year apart. Stapleton was born in 1978 in Lexington; Gorley in 1977 in Danville.
Stapleton’s “White Horse” (co-written by ASCAP member Dan Wilson) and “Think I’m in Love with You” were among ASCAP’s 50 most-performed country songs of the year.
Gorley co-wrote Wallen’s megahit “Last Night,” which is the ASCAP Country Song of the Year. Co-written by JKash and Gorley, the song marks Gorley’s fourth ASCAP Country Song of the Year win. He previously won for “You Proof” (2023), “One of Them Girls” (2021) and “You’re Gonna Miss This” (2009).
Sony Music Publishing, Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Domain Capital Group, Poppy’s Picks, Prescription Songs and Rap Kingpin Music shared in the honor for “Last Night.” The Grammy-nominated single spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023.
Gorley had a total of 11 songs among ASCAP’s 50 most performed country songs of the year. The others, and the artists who made them famous, are: “All I Need is You” (Chris Janson), “Bulletproof” (Nate Smith), “Cowgirls” (Wallen), “God Gave Me a Girl” (Russell Dickerson), “I Had Some Help” (Wallen and Post Malone), “Save Me the Trouble” (Dan + Shay), “This Town’s Been Too Good to Us” (Dylan Scott), “Truck Bed” (Hardy), “World On Fire” (Nate Smith) and “Young Love & Saturday Nights” (Chris Young).
Gorley was nominated last week for induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame; eligible voting members have until midnight ET on Dec. 22 to turn in their ballots.
Sony Music Publishing was named ASCAP Country Music Publisher of the Year for the 11th time, with 24 of this year’s most-performed songs. Sony Music Publishing Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston accepted the award.
Among Sony Music Publishing’s top songs are “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey’s mega-hit that has spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as well as “Can’t Break Up Now” (Old Dominion and Megan Moroney), “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” (Kelsea Ballerini), “Texas Hold ‘Em” (Beyoncé), “Outskirts” (Sam Hunt), “Bulletproof” (Nate Smith), “Save Me the Trouble” (Dan + Shay), “I Can Feel It” (Kane Brown), “Light On in the Kitchen” (Ashley McBryde) and “Austin” (Dasha).
ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews, ASCAP chairman of the board and president Paul Williams and ASCAP vice president of Nashville membership Mike Sistad handed out awards. Rising duo Everette performed their recent single “High and Lonesome.”
A complete list of ASCAP Country Music Award winners can be found at: ASCAP.com/countryawards24.
Jelly Roll knows how to add some fun into an inspiring day. The “Son of a Sinner” singer took to Instagram to share clips from his visit to Harris County Juvenile Detention Center in Houston, Texas, where he brought the detainees pizza and even challenged them to a game of basketball. “I don’t know you […]
Carrie Underwood is celebrating her Las Vegas residency in a big way. The Grammy-winning superstar’s Carrie Underwood: Reflection concert film will be arriving to Hulu in January, giving fans the best seat in the house as they experience the singer’s popular show at Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas. The residency concert showcases […]
The 58th annual CMA Awards are set for Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Two-time CMA Award entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan returns to co-host with NFL hall of famer Peyton Manning and reigning CMA entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson. Morgan Wallen leads this year’s nominees with seven nominations, including for entertainer of the year, followed by Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton with five nominations, and Post Malone and Lainey Wilson with four nominations.
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The eligibility period for the 2024 show, which will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET, is July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024. The 58th Annual CMA Awards is set to broadcast live on Wednesday (8:00–11:00 p.m. ET) on ABC and next day on Hulu.
According to CMA rules, “singles, albums, music videos and qualified music products for the annual show must have been released or reached peak national prominence during the eligibility period” to qualify. More than 7,000 members of the country music industry vote for the nominees and winners through three rounds of voting.
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Here are Billboard’s predictions on who will emerge victorious in select categories, from Melinda Newman (executive editor, West Coast and Nashville) and Jessica Nicholson (staff writer, Nashville).
Entertainer of the year
Luke Combs
Jelly Roll
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
Newman: Jelly Roll replaces Carrie Underwood in what otherwise is a replay of last year. Wilson, who won in 2023, continues to have a strong streak, but she faces steep competition from label mate Jelly Roll, who has smashed it on his first headlining arena tour. Stapleton is looking for his first win here in eight nominations, but it’s also hard to deny two-time winner Combs and Wallen, both of whom had sold-out stadium tours this year. An extremely tough and competitive category. It also shows what a good job country music has done in building the next generation of superstars: Stapleton is the most seasoned veteran in this category, and his first solo album only came out nine years ago.
Will win: Morgan Wallen
Nicholson: Each artist nominated here has had a stellar year, with album releases and/or massive tours. Wilson won this category last year, and could very well take it home a second time. Meanwhile, her labelmate Jelly Roll has been seemingly ubiquitous this year, thanks to his Billboard 200-topping album Beautifully Broken and its corresponding headlining arena tour. Combs has previously won twice in the category, while Morgan Wallen looks to take home his first EOY win. Both have both led massive stadium tours and logged chart-topping hits. Stapleton earns his eighth nomination in the category, on the strength of recent hits such as “White Horse” and this year continued his All-American Road Show Tour. Given Wallen’s stadium-headlining status and massive all-genre chart hits this year, it seems likely that he will earn the EOY win.
Will win: Morgan Wallen
Male vocalist of the year
Luke Combs
Jelly Roll
Cody Johnson
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Newman: The line-up repeats from last year, when Stapleton took home his seventh trophy, extending his record for most wins in the category. With his bluesy, rangy growl, Stapleton has a once-in-a-generation voice and Combs has been the only male vocalist who has been able to break his strangle-hold on the category, winning in 2019 and 2020. Stapleton faces stiff competition again, but just throw on “White Horse” or any other song from Higher and it feels like Stapleton will win again.
Will win: Chris Stapleton
Nicholson: Stapleton has taken home this category for the past three consecutive years, and given his pair of chart hits this year (the top 5 Country Airplay hit “White Horse” and top 20 hit “Think I’m in Love With You”), he’s in a good position to take home the honor again this year. However, he has quite the battle ahead of him — particularly from stadium headliner Wallen, whose collab with Post Malone was a six-week Billboard Hot 100-topper. Meanwhile, Combs has continued his own headlining stadium tour and took successful creative risks on his concept album Fathers & Sons. Johnson has shown himself a torchbearer for traditional country, with two songs he recorded earning song of the year nominations. Jelly Roll was named new artist of the year last year and his career has only skyrocketed since, with a headlining arena tour, a No. 1 Billboard 200 debut album and his joyous, megawatt personality garnering loads of media attention.
Will win: Jelly Roll
Female vocalist of the year
Kelsea Ballerini
Ashley McBryde
Megan Moroney
Kacey Musgraves
Lainey Wilson
Newman: McBryde, who has been nominated five times, and Ballerini, who has been nominated seven, are both going for their first wins here, as is Moroney, who received her first nom this year. Wilson won the past two years, while Musgraves — who took home the trophy in 2019, received her first nomination since 2020. All are deserving, but it feels like Wilson is building a dynasty that could rival that of Miranda Lambert — who won six years in a row, and then, after losing to Carrie Underwood, came back and won again. (Underwood is no slouch here, having been nominated 13 times and winning five times).
Winner: Lainey Wilson
Nicholson: Each artist has had a strong year, with headlining tours and/or album releases. McBryde, who picks up a fifth nomination in this category, released The Devil I Know. Musgraves, who previously won this category in 2019, released Deeper Well. Moroney, who headlined her own tour and opened for Kenny Chesney this year, earns her first female vocalist of the year nomination this year on the strength of releases including “No Caller ID.” Wilson, the reigning CMA entertainer of the year, also won in this category the past two years, and has been headlining her Country’s Cool Again Tour and earned a top 20 Hot Country Songs hit with “Hang Tight Honey,” ahead of her August-released album Whirlwind. Ballerini picks up her seventh nomination in the category. This past year, she earned a top 20 Country Songs hit with her Noah Kahan collaboration “Cowboys Cry Too,” an early look at her October-released new album Patterns. Still, this looks like Wilson’s to lose.
Will win: Lainey Wilson
Vocal group of the year
Lady A
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
The Red Clay Strays
Zac Brown Band
Newman: This category has remained largely static—this year, The Red Clay Strays replace Midland, but the other four nominees remain the same as they have largely for the past five years. Old Dominion has won for the past six years… and Little Big Town for the six consecutive years before that and Lady A for three years in a row before that. You get the idea. Zac Brown Band has been nominated 13 times and not taken home the crown. Hot (relative) newcomers Red Clay Strays could pull off some kind of miraculous upset, but they haven’t broken through significantly yet. It’s another year for Old Dominion, who will try to look surprised when they win.
Will win: Old Dominion
Nicholson: The past year was fairly quiet for some of the nominees. Three of the nominated groups — Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band and Lady A — did not release an album during the eligibility period, though Old Dominion released the album Memory Lane, spearheaded by the title track and the Megan Moroney collab “Can’t Break Up Now.” However, ZBB joined Kenny Chesney on his 2024 tour, while Little Big Town revealed a co-headlining tour with Sugarland. New to the category this year is The Red Clay Strays, who earned a breakthrough hit with Hot 100 hit “Wondering Why” and followed with a sterling album Made By These Moments. Still, look for six-time vocal group of the year winners Old Dominion to extend their winning streak here.
Will win: Old Dominion
Vocal duo of the year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty
Newman: It’s the exact same duos competing this year as last year. In the last eight years, the award has gone to reigning champs Brothers Osborne six times and Dan + Shay two times. Brooks & Dunn hold the record for 14 non-consecutive wins spanning 1992-2006. The War & Treaty could score their first win here given the love Nashville feels for them and their immense talent, but we thought that last year. Dan + Shay have had a stellar year with a sold-out arena tour and hits from their album, Bigger Houses, and a holiday album. Feels like time for the pair to follow up its ACM Awards top duo win earlier this year with another CMA.
Will win: Dan + Shay
Nicholson: This year’s category features several previous nominees and winners. Brooks & Dunn, who have won in the category 14 previous times, are again nominated, thanks to their headlining Reboot 2024 tour (the duo also recently released the Reboot II album). Meanwhile, Dan + Shay released Bigger Houses, spearheaded by the single “Save Me The Trouble.” Brothers Osborne released “Break Mine” and issued a self-titled album, while The War and Treaty issued “Called Me By Your Name” and made several high-profile appearances this year. Maddie & Tae released “Heart They Didn’t Break” ahead of their 2024 EP What a Woman Can Do. Look for Dan + Shay to return to the winner’s circle here.
Will win: Dan + Shay
New artist of the year
Megan Moroney
Shaboozey
Nate Smith
Mitchell Tenpenny
Zach Top
Bailey Zimmerman
Newman: No offense to Mitchell Tenpenny, but given that he’s been having hits since 2018, it seems odd that he was nominated this year. Zimmerman should have been nominated last year but wasn’t. Zach Top is breaking through now and his star is shining brightly, but he hasn’t had the kind of year that Moroney, Shaboozey or Smith have, in part because he started later. Artists can be nominated twice for this award, and Moroney repeats her nomination from last year. It’s a solid crop of artists — and the category is loaded with acts that seem like they have long futures ahead of them. It’s a bit of a coin toss between Moroney, Smith and Shaboozey and it’s hard to bet against someone who dominated this summer’s country and pop charts like Shaboozey, but it feels like Moroney has the wind at her back.
Will win: Megan Moroney
Nicholson: Several of the artists nominated for new artist of the year reached new heights this year. Shaboozey scored a massive hit on several charts including 18 weeks (and counting) atop the Hot 100 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Megan Moroney notched multiple Hot 100 hits, including “No Caller ID” and “Am I Okay?,” while Zach Top has garnered considerable buzz since releasing his debut country album Cold Beer & Country Music earlier this year, and has two songs on the Country Airplay chart at present. Nate Smith earned a multi-week No. 1 with “World on Fire,” and followed with another hit “Bulletproof.” Meanwhile, Tenpenny released his new album, The 3rd, in September. Zimmerman earned a No. 1 Country Airplay hit with “Where It Ends,” and had opening slots on tours for Wallen, Luke Bryan and Kane Brown. Still, Shaboozey’s cross-genre hit is tough to deny here.
Will win: Shaboozey
Album of the year
Award goes to artist, producer(s) and mix engineer(s)
Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves; Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian; Mix Engineers: Shawn Everett, Konrad Snyder
Fathers & Sons – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews
Higher – Chris Stapleton; Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton; Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
Leather – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
Whitsitt Chapel – Jelly Roll; Producers: Andrew Baylis, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Jesse Frasure, David Garcia, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft, Austin Nivarel, David Ray Stevens; Mix Engineers: Jeff Braun, Jim Cooley
Newman: Last year, Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country won, but her follow-up, Whirlwind, won’t be eligible until next year because of the qualifying dates (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024). Those dates are somewhat flexible and adjusted for when an album had its greatest impact — which is how Whitsitt Chapel, which came out June 2, 2023, finds itself here. Musgraves, Combs and Stapleton have all won before, and every solo album released by Stapleton has received a nomination, so it’s impossible to bet against him. But I’m going to anyway: An album like Whitsitt Chapel doesn’t come along very often, and it is only going to grow in importance as time passes. An album about salvation and redemption with bonafide radio hits like “Need a Favor” and “Save Me,” Whitsitt Chapel changed the tenor of country radio.
Will win: Whitsitt Chapel
Nicholson: Musgraves’ Deeper Well and Stapleton’s Higher are both up for Grammy best country album nominations as well the CMA album of the year honor, further heightening their credentials here. Combs crafted his familial-focused project Fathers & Sons to great acclaim, while Johnson’s Leather included hits including “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter,” both of which are up for song of the year. Jelly Roll’s breakthrough album Whitsitt Chapel launched multiple hits for the Tennessee native, including “Halfway to Hell” and “Need a Favor.” Musgraves, Stapleton and Combs have all won in the category, but look for awards-show favorite Stapleton to take home the win.
Will win: Higher
Single of the year
Award goes to artist(s), producer(s) and mix engineer(s)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey; Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry; Mix Engineer: Raul Lopez
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen); Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins; Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
“Watermelon Moonshine” – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
“White Horse” – Chris Stapleton; Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton; Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
Newman: After Wallen’s “Last Night” wasn’t nominated last year despite spending 16 weeks at No. 1, it feels like his and Post Malone’s insanely catchy “I Had Some Help,” which was Billboard’s Song of the Summer, will take the prize here. But “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has insinuated its way into listeners’ hearts and set the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for an artist with no accompanying acts at 17 weeks. Some voters may want to go more traditional Nashville, and could go for Stapleton or Johnson, both of whom have won before — but we think we’re going to be raising a glass to Post Malone and Wallen.
Will win: “I Had Some Help”
Nicholson: The single of the year nominees for 2024 are an array of sounds, from pop-entrenched smashes, blistering country-rock tracks and staunchly country entries. All five nominated singles connected with fans this year, but the double star power of Post Malone and Morgan Wallen could be enough to earn the win.
Will win: “I Had Some Help”
Song of the year
Award goes to songwriter(s)
“Burn It Down”; Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Parker McCollum, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
“Dirt Cheap”; Songwriter: Josh Phillips
“I Had Some Help”; Songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters
“The Painter”; Songwriters: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins
“White Horse”; Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson
Newman: These are all strong selections, and all reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Though this is a songwriter’s award, credit to Cody Johnson for having an unerring song sense with both “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter.” “I Had Some Help” is a bit of an outlier here, given its bouncy, lightweight nature, which contrasts with the more serious nature of the other songs. That — and the fact that it was an enduring crossover smash — may play in its favor, but we like it more for single of the year than song. The intensity of “Burn It Down” and “White Horse” still hit every time we hear either, and a great song should continue to wear well. A very slight nod here to “White Horse” and its driving, western swagger.
Will win: “White Horse”
Nicholson: Cody Johnson seems to be a songwriter’s not-so-secret weapon in this category, as two Johnson-recorded songs made the final nominees: “Dirt Cheap,” a solo write from Josh Phillips, and “The Painter,” written by Benjy Davis, Ryan Larkins and Kat Higgins. The song of the year category generally goes to songs with detailed storylines and/or heartfelt sentiments, and while this year’s nominated songs ranged from rock-fueled heartbreakers (“White Horse,” “Burn It Down”) to smash radio hits (“I Had Some Help”), the sentimental fan-favorite “Dirt Cheap” could take home the win.
Will win: “Dirt Cheap”