CMA Nominations 2021: Eric Church, Chris Stapleton Lead the Nominees
September 9, 2021
The Country Music Association revealed the nominees for the 55th Annual CMA Awards Thursday morning (Sept 9th).
Reigning Entertainer of the Year Eric Church and Chris Stapleton lead the pack with five nominations each. Both artists are also nominated for Entertainer of the Year alongside Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood.
Carrie, however, was left off of the Female Vocalist of the Year nominee list for the first time in 15 years. Instead, first-time nominees Carly Pearce and Gabby Barrett earned nods.
2021 CMA Awards nominees
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Gabby Barrett
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Maren Morris
Carly Pearce
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jimmie Allen
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Mickey Guyton
HARDY
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle
Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
Aaron Sterling – Drums
Ilya Toshinskiy – Banjo
Derek Wells – Guitar
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist, Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s))
29
Carly Pearce
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Jimmy Robbins
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
Big Machine Records
Dangerous: The Double Album
Morgan Wallen
Producers: Dave Cohen, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome and Joey Moi
Mix Engineer: Joey Moi
Big Loud Records / Republic Records
Heart
Eric Church
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall and Jay Joyce
EMI Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville
Skeletons
Brothers Osborne
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall and Jay Joyce
EMI Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville
Starting Over
Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
Mercury Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s))
“Famous Friends”
Chris Young with Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder and Chris Young
Mix Engineer: Sean Moffitt
RCA Nashville
“The Good Ones”
Gabby Barrett
Producers: Ross Copperman and Zach Kale
Mix Engineers: Chris Galland and Manny Marroquin
Warner Music Nashville
“Hell Of A View”
Eric Church
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall and Jay Joyce
EMI Records Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville
“One Night Standards”
Ashley McBryde
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall and Jay Joyce
Warner Music Nashville
“Starting Over”
Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
Mercury Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville
SONG OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))
“Forever After All”
Luke Combs, Drew Parker, Robert Williford
“The Good Ones”
Gabby Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, Jim McCormick
“Hell Of A View”
Casey Beathard, Eric Church, Monty Criswell
“One Night Standards”
Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde
“Starting Over”
Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s))
“Buy Dirt”
Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
MCA Nashville / Universal Music Group Nashville
“Chasing After You”
Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris
Producers: Aaron Eshuis and Teddy Reimer
Arista Nashville
“Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”
Elle King & Miranda Lambert
Producer: Martin Johnson
RCA Records / Columbia Nashville
“Famous Friends”
Chris Young with Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder and Chris Young
RCA Nashville
“half of my hometown”
Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman and Jimmy Robbins
Black River Entertainment
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s))
“Chasing After You”
Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris
Director: TK McKamy
“Famous Friends”
Chris Young with Kane Brown
Director: Peter Zavadil
“Gone”
Dierks Bentley
Directors: Wes Edwards, Travis Nicholson, Ed Pryor, Running Bear and Sam Siske
