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Ella Langley at Nissan Stadium for CMA Fest, 6/4/2026

The Country Music Association has announced nominees for the 60th Annual CMA Awards in the 12 categories voted on by its professional members. Breakout star Ella Langley tops the tally with nine nominations, including two in the Single of the Year category. Veteran star Miranda Lambert worked closely with Langley on her debut Dandelion and has multiple nominations as a co-producer and co-writer. Lambert is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year and twice in the Musical Event of the Year category — for a duet with Chris Stapleton on “A Song to Sing” and a feature on Kacey Musgraves’ “Horses and Divorces” — bringing her nomination total to seven for 2026.

On the plus side, Musgraves and Stapleton have multiple nominations, as does multiple CMA Award-winning star Lainey Wilson. And then there are sour notes like Langley’s collaboration with Morgan Wallen, “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” up for Event of the Year. Over the five years since Wallen was caught using the N-word on his then-neighbor’s security camera, you’ve heard about it plenty from us and many others. (That’s not even getting into endangering people by throwing a chair off a rooftop bar a few years later.) Despite this notable opportunity, relatively little serious change seems to have happened at the highest levels of the mainstream country industry — to make fans from marginalized communities feel heard and welcomed, to give people of color and/or from LGBTQ communities more power in the business, or even to give artists representing these communities more visibility. 

For one small example: The Cowgays, a harmonizing trio of top-notch country singer-songwriters who are queer, have become very popular with a sizable and energized fan base this year, but they don’t appear anywhere here. (Maybe they’ll at least get invited to perform at the awards show. It’s also notable that there’s no love here either for The War and Treaty or Shaboozey, two prominent Black country artists.) That’s not the fault of any of the New Artist of the Year or Vocal Group of the Year nominees, but it feels like yet another missed opportunity to show how big the tent can be.

Per tradition, the award winners will be announced during a star-studded ceremony and concert. The show kicks off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, broadcasting live from Bridgestone Arena, and tickets to be there in person go on sale Friday, Sept. 18. The show will air on ABC affiliates (Nashville folks know that’s WKRN for us) and Disney+, and will be available to stream on Hulu the following day. Here’s the full list of nominees.

Entertainer of the Year

  • Luke Combs  

  • Cody Johnson  

  • Ella Langley  

  • Chris Stapleton  

  • Lainey Wilson

Single of the Year

Awarded to the artist, producer(s) and mix engineer(s)

  • Ella Langley, “Be Her”: produced by Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, Ben West; mixed by Dave Clauss 

  • Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”: produced by Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, Ben West; mixed by Dave Clauss 

  • Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You”: produced by Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift; mixed by Laura Sisk 

  • Lainey Wilson, “Somewhere Over Laredo”: produced by Jay Joyce; mixed by Jason Hall, Jay Joyce 

  • Cody Johnson, “The Fall”: produced by Trent Willmon; mixed by Jack Clarke

Album of the Year  

Awarded to the artist, producer(s) and mix engineer(s) 

  • Zach Top, Ain’t In It For My Health: produced by Carson Chamberlain, mixed by Matt Rovey 

  • Ella Langley, Dandelion: produced by Devin Dawson, Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Ben West; mixed by Dave Clauss 

  • Kacey Musgraves, Middle of Nowhere: produced by Ian Fitchuk, Luke Laird, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian; mixed by Serban Ghenea, Konrad Snyder 

  • Parker McCollum, Parker McCollum: produced by Frank Liddell, Eric Masse; mixed by Eric Masse 

  • Luke Combs, The Way I Am: produced by Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; mixed by Chip Matthews

Song of the Year  

Awarded to songwriter(s) 

  • “Be Her” (Ella Langley): written by Smith Ahnquist, Michael Hardy, Ella Langley, Jordan Schmidt 

  • “Beautiful Things” (Megan Moroney): written by Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon, Connie Harrington, Megan Moroney 

  • “Choosin’ Texas” (Ella Langley): written by Luke Dick, Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor 

  • “Dry Spell” (Kacey Musgraves): written by Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne 

  • “Gary” (Stephen Wilson Jr.): written by Stephen Wilson Jr.

Female Vocalist of the Year

  • Miranda Lambert 

  • Ella Langley 

  • Megan Moroney 

  • Kacey Musgraves 

  • Lainey Wilson

Male Vocalist of the Year

  • Luke Combs 

  • Cody Johnson 

  • Chris Stapleton 

  • Zach Top  

  • Stephen Wilson Jr.

Vocal Group of the Year

  • Lady A 

  • Little Big Town 

  • Midland 

  • Old Dominion 

  • The Red Clay Strays

Vocal Duo of the Year

  • Brooks & Dunn 

  • Brothers Osborne 

  • Dan + Shay 

  • Muscadine Bloodline 

  • Thelma & James

Musical Event of the Year  

Awarded to artists and producer(s)

  • Miranda Lambert with Chris Stapleton, “A Song to Sing,” produced by Dave Cobb 

  • Kacey Musgraves feat. Miranda Lambert, “Horses and Divorces,” produced by Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian 

  • Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen, “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” produced by Austin Goodloe, Ella Langley, Ben West 

  • Carly Pearce and Riley Green, “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” produced by Carly Pearce, Ben West 

  • HARDY with Eric Church, Morgan Wallen and Tim McGraw, “McArthur,” produced by Jay Joyce

Musician of the Year

  • Tom Bukovac, guitar  

  • Jenee Fleenor, fiddle 

  • Paul Franklin, steel guitar 

  • Rob McNelley, guitar 

  • Charlie Worsham, guitar

Music Video of the Year

Awarded to artist(s) and director(s) 

  • Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas,” directed by Ella Langley, Caylee Robillard, Wales Toney  

  • Kacey Musgraves, “Dry Spell,” directed by Hannah Lux Davis, Kacey Musgraves 

  • Stephen Wilson Jr., “Gary,” directed by Tim Cofield, Stephen Wilson Jr. 

  • Cody Johnson, “The Fall,” directed by Dustin Haney 

  • Chris Stapleton, “White Horse,” directed by Running Bear

New Artist of the Year

  • Avery Anna 

  • Carter Faith 

  • Emily Ann Roberts 

  • Tucker Wetmore 

  • Stephen Wilson Jr. 

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