2020 CMA Awards’ Song Of The Year Winner Is…”The Bones” By Maren Morris

CMA Country Music / Twitter

It’s important for those who watch the CMA Awards to understand the difference between two similar categories: Song of the Year and Single of the Year.

Single of the Year is awarded to the artist(s) who recorded the winning song, while Song of the Year is given to the songwriter(s) who wrote the winning song. In the case of the Song of the Year Award, the artist who recorded the winning song can take home the trophy only if they wrote or co-wrote the song as well.

Here are a couple examples from the past:

1. The 2016 Song of the Year Award went to “Humble and Kind,” which was recorded by Tim McGraw. But McGraw didn’t write the song, so the award was only given to its songwriter, Lori McKenna.
2. The 2019 Song of the Year Award was given to “Beautiful Crazy,” which was recorded by Luke Combs. He co-wrote the track with Wyatt B. Durrette III and Robert Williford, so all three of them received the award.

The 2020 nominees for the CMA’s Song of the Year Award were all songs that were co-written by at least one of the artists who recorded them. And speaking of Combs, he was actually nominated twice in the category this go around!

Here were all of the nominees:

• “Bluebird” – Recorded by Miranda Lambert, written by Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby, and Lambert
• “The Bones” – Recorded by Maren Morris, written by Morris, Jimmy Robbins, and Laura Veltz
• “Even Though I’m Leaving” – Recorded by Luke Combs, written by Combs, Wyatt B. Durrette III, and Ray Fulcher
• “I Hope You’re Happy Now” – Recorded by Carly Pearce and Lee Brice, written by Luke Combs, Randy Montana, Pearce, and Jonathan Singleton
• “More Hearts than Mine” – Recorded by Ingrid Andress, written by Andress, Sam Ellis, and Derrick Southerland

If you didn’t get the chance to hear the winning song be announced during the CMA’s ceremony on Wednesday (November 11) we have the news for you right here. Are you ready to find out who won?

The winner is none other than…”The Bones” by Maren Morris.

“The Bones” was one of the most impactful songs in country music this year, so it makes perfect sense why it won this award. It was a #1 hit on both the Country Airplay chart and Hot Country Songs chart, and reached the 12th position on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

The track was recorded by Maren Morris and was co-written by Morris, Jimmy Robbins, and Laura Veltz. This is all three writers’ first win in the category.

Join us in congratulating Morris, Robbins, and Veltz for writing the 2020 CMA Song of the Year! You can celebrate by giving “The Bones” a listen in the clip below.

“The Bones” also won the award for Single of the Year earlier in the night, which is impressive!