Nominees For 2018 CMA Awards Revealed – See How Your Favorite Artists Stack Up

CMA Awards / Facebook

Hard to believe it, but “country music’s biggest night” is almost here. By that, we mean the 2018 CMA Awards!

This year’s CMA Awards will air on November 14 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Few details about the ceremony are known, other than the fact that Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will be returning to host for the 11th year in a row.

After much anticipation, the nominees for this year’s awards were finally revealed on Tuesday (August 28) during Good Morning America. Luke Bryan was in charge of sharing select nominees from his new Nashville bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink, with some help from duos Dan + Shay and Sugarland. The rest of the nominees were later shared by the CMA online.

For the first time in two years, someone other than Garth Brooks will be walking away with the CMA’s coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy. You’ll see some familiar names in that category, with the notable addition of Kenny Chesney, who has recently been breaking attendance records left and right on his Trip Around the Sun Tour.

Another major surprise was the inclusion of Luke Combs as a nominee in the Male Vocalist of the Year category. He’s the newest name in the batch, but definitely one of the most successful, with three number one hits to his name. Combs joins a list of longtime nominees in the category, including last year’s winner Chris Stapleton.

As for Vocal Duo of the year, it featured a familiar name that hasn’t popped up in the category in some time. After hinting at their reunion on the CMA Awards stage last year, Sugarland is now back in the running and can call themselves CMA nominees for the first time in years.

Want to check out some of the other categories and their nominees? You can catch the full list below. 

2018 CMA Awards Nominees

Musician of the Year

Jerry Douglas
Paul Franklin
Dan Huff
Mac McAnally
Derek Wells

Music Video of the Year

Suglard feat. Taylor Swift: “Babe”
Carrie Underwood: “Cry Pretty”
Chris Janson: “Drunk Girl”
Thomas Rhett: “Marry Me”
Dan + Shay: “Tequila”

Musical Event of the Year

Dierks Bentley feat. Brothers Osborne: “Burning Man”
Maren Morris feat. Vince Gill: “Dear Hate”
Jason Aldean feat. Miranda Lambert: “Drowns the Whiskey ”
David Lee Murphy with Kenny Chesney: “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line: “Meant to Be”

New Artist of the Year

Lauren Alaina
Luke Combs
Chris Janson
Midland
Brett Young

Vocal Duo of the Year

Brothers Obsborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
Sugarland

Vocal Group of the Year

Lady Antebellum
LANCO
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion

Male Vocalist of the Year

Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Song of the Year (Awarded to Songwriters)

Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Josh Obsborne: “Body Like a Back Road” -Recorded by Sam Hunt
Mike Henderson & Chris Stapleton: “Broken Halos” – Recorded by Chris Stapleton
Bradon Kinney, Jeff Middleton, & Josh Thompson: “Drowns the Whiskey” -Recorded by Jason Aldean & Miranda Lambert
Scooter Carusoe, Tom Douglas, & Chris Janson: “Drunk Girl” – Recorded by Chris Janson
Nicolle Gaylon, Jordan Reynolds, & Dan Smyers: “Tequila” – Recorded by Dan + Shay

Single of the Year

Chris Stapleton: “Broken Halos”
Midlind: “Drinkin’ Problem”
Jason Aldean feat. Miranda Lambert: “Drowns the Whiskey”
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line: “Meant to Be”
Dan + Shay: “Tequila”

Album of the Year

Chris Stapleton: From a Room: Volume 2
Kacey Musgraves: Golden Hour
Keith Urban: Graffiti U 
Thomas Rhett: Life Changes
Dierks Bentley: The Mountain

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Who are you rooting for to win this year? Be sure to tune in to the CMA Awards in November to see if your favorites walk away with the trophies.

In the meantime, enjoy reliving one of last year’s best performances, brought to you by Alan Jackson.