CMA Awards 2023: Musical Event Of The Year Winner Announced
on Nov 08, 2023
Country music’s biggest night is finally here! The 57th CMA Awards are taking place today at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena where some of country music’s biggest names will be honored.
Hosted by country star and American Idol judge, Luke Bryan, and Super Bowl champion, Peyton Manning, the awards show is considered a highlight of the year for fans and artists alike. The night promises three jam-packed hours of performances and special appearances with award announcements in between.
One of the event’s awards is the Musical Event of the Year award. This category “recognizes a collaboration of two or more people, either or all of whom are known primarily as country artists, who don’t regularly work together as part of a duo or group.” Previous winners include Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson, and Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett.
The Musical Event of the Year award, originally called the Vocal Event of the Year, is one of two awards that were announced hours before the ceremony that will air on ABC later this evening (November 8, 2023).
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The 2023 Nominees
“Save Me” by Jelly Roll (feat. Lainey Wilson)
These two are both relatively new to the country music world, but don’t let them fool you. These two powerful vocalists came together to give us a new song that will go down in history, “Save Me.” Both Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson came into this year’s CMA awards with five nominations and nine nominations respectively.
“Thank God” by Kane Brown (with Katelyn Brown)
This husband/wife pair teamed up to give us one of the sweetest songs in country music titled “Thank God.” Katelyn, who is a talented artists in her own right, joined her husband for the chart-topping song to makr their first-ever duet release. Earlier this year, the Browns were honored with the Video of the Year trophy at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
“wait in the truck” from HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
Produced by Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt, Derek Wells and HARDY, “wait in the truck” is one of a kind as it tells the story of redemption from an abusive relationship. The song served as the lead single for HARDY’s sophomore album, The Mockingbird & the Crow. Inspired by Garth Brooks’ “The Thunder Rolls” and “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks, Lainey Wilson brought a passionate and convincing voice to the song that she hopes “brings light to a situation that is more common than we’d like to admit” and “haunts” domestic abusers.
“We Don’t Fight Anymore” by Carly Pearce (featuring Chris Stapleton)
“We Don’t Fight Anymore,” the result of an Instagram DM, has quickly become one of Carly Pearce’s most successful songs to date. The singer shared that she had a vision that Stapleton would join her on this song, so she messaged his wife on Instagram to ask if he would do it.
“She Had Me At Heads Carolina” from Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina
“She Had Me At Heads Carolina” is a unique song due to the fact that it brought back a classic hit and reignited the career of Jo Dee Messina. It’s only fitting that Jo Dee joined Cole Swindell on this song since it refers to her 1996 debut single “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” Jo Dee and Cole’s Musical Event of the Year nomination comes 24 years after Jo Dee won the CMA Horizon Award.
And the winner of the 2023 Musical Event of the Year Award is…”wait in the truck” by HARDY and Lainey Wilson!
Congratulations to HARDY, Wilson, and the entire team behind “wait in the truck.” Watch the song’s official music video below.
