Just hours before the 2023 CMA Awards, Hardy and Lainey Wilson were announced as this year’s first winners.
The 57th annual ceremony begins Wednesday evening at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Some of the biggest names in country music are expected to perform and celebrate the best of the genre.
But earlier, on ABC’s Good Morning America, Hardy and Wilson were awarded trophies for CMA Musical Event of the Year and CMA Music Video of the Year for their collaboration “Wait in the Truck.”
Good Morning America host Lara Spencer shared the news live from downtown Nashville while CMA Awards hosts Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning spoke A look behind the scenes of what to expect on the show tonight.
Heading into the CMA Awards, Wilson led the field in total nominations, including Female Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year and Song of the Year for her song ” Heart Like A Truck”. and Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country – among others.
This year also featured several first-time nominees, including Jelly Roll, Kane Brown’s wife Katelyn Brown and Tracy Chapman – whose 1988 song “Fast Car” found renewed fame when it was covered by Luke Combs. “Fast Car” – on which Chapman is the sole writer – is nominated for both Single of the Year and Song of the Year.
So who won big on Wednesday and who went home empty-handed? Keep checking back with ET for the full list of winners – highlighted in bold — below:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
*“Fast Car” – Luke Combs – WINNER!
“Heart Like a Truck” – Lainey Wilson
“Need a favor” – Jelly Roll
“The Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis
“Wait in the Truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde
Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson
Growing Old – Luke Combs
One thing at a time – Morgan Wallen
Rolling up the welcome mat – Kelsea Ballerini
SONG OF THE YEAR
* “Fast Car” – songwriter: Tracy Chapman – WINNER!
“Heart Like A Truck” – songwriters: Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson
“Next Thing You Know” – songwriters: Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne
“Tennessee Orange” – songwriters: David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney, Ben Williams
“Wait in the Truck” – songwriters: Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt
SINGER OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson
MALE SINGER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
jellyroll
Cody Johnson
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
SINGING GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady A
Small big city
Mittelland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
SINGING DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Osborne brothers
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The war and the treaty
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
“Save Me” – Jelly Roll (featuring Lainey Wilson)
“She Had Me At Heads Carolina (Remix)” – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina
“Thank God” – Kane Brown (with Katelyn Brown)
*“Wait in the Truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson) – WINNER!
“We Don’t Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce (with Chris Stapleton)
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jenee Fleenor
Paul Franklin
Rob McNelley
Derek Wells
Charlie Worsham
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Light On In The Kitchen” – Ashley McBryde/Director: Reid Long
“Memory Lane” – Old Dominion/Directors: Mason Allen, Nicki Fletcher
“Need A Favour” – Jelly Roll/Director: Patrick Tohill
“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis/Director: Running Bear
*“Wait in the Truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)/Director: Justin Clough – WINNER!
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Zach Bryan
jellyroll
Parker McCollum
Megan Moroney
Hailey Whitters
2023 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR FINALISTS (by Market Size):
Weekly National
“American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Cumulus/Westwood One
“Countdown USA” (Lon Helton) – Compass Media Networks
“Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Silverfish Media
“On The Horizon with Buzz Brainard” (Buzz Brainard) – SiriusXM
“Y’all Access with Kelly Sutton” (Kelly Sutton) – Firefly Media/Silverfish Media
National daily
“Angie Ward” – iHeartMedia
“The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek “Big D” Haskins, Sean “Bubba” Powell, Patrick Thomas and Carsen Humphreville) – Silverfish Media
“Katie & Company” (Katie Neal) – Audacy
Nights with Elaina (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One
“The Sam Alex Show” (Sam Alex) – Sam Alex Productions, LLC
Big market
“Chris Carr & Company” (Chris Carr, Kia Becht and Sam Sansevere) – KEEY, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
“Frito & Katy” (Tucker “Frito” Young and Katy Dempsey) – KCYY, San Antonio, Texas
“Hawkeye in the Morning with Hawkeye and Michelle” (“Hawkeye” Mark Louis Rybczyk and Michelle Rodriguez) – KSCS, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
“Josh, Rachael & Grunwald” (Josh Holleman, Rachael Hunter and Steve Grunwald) – WYCD, Detroit, Michigan.
“Scotty Kay” (Scotty Kay) – WUSN, Chicago, Ill.
Big market
“The Big Dave Show” (“Big Dave” Chandler, Ashley Heiert and Jason “Stattman” Statt) – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
“The Morning Drive with Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews” (Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews) – KBEQ, Kansas City, Mo.
“Scott and Shannen” (Scott Dolphin and “Shannen O” Oesterreich) – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
“Tim & Chelsea In The Morning” (Tim Leary and Chelsea Taylor) – WIRK, West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Florida.
“The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Tay Hamilton) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.
Middle market
“Cait & Bradley Morning Show” (Cait Fisher and Matt Bradley) – KWEN, Tulsa, Okla.
“Clay & Company” (Clay Moden, Rob Banks and Kadie Daye) – WYRK, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
“Ellis and Bradley Show” (Bill Ellis and Beth Bradley) – WSSL, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
“Mo & StyckMan” (Melissa “Mo” Wagner and Greg “StyckMan” Owens) – WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.
“Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Small market
“The B100 Morning Show with Brittney Baily” (Brittney Baily) – WBYT, South Bend, Ind.
“The Eddie Foxx Show” (Eddie Foxx and Amanda Foxx) – WKSF, Asheville, NC
“Officer Don & DeAnn” (“Officer Don” Evans and DeAnn Stephens) – WBUL, Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky.
“Steve & Tiffany in the Morning” (Steve Waters and Tiffany Kay) – WFLS, Fredericksburg, Va.
“Steve, Ben and Nikki” (Steve Stroud, Ben Walker and Nikki Thomas) – WXBQ, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
2023 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS – RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR FINALISTS (by Market Size):
Big market
KCYY-San Antonio, Texas
KEEY – Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn.
KKBQ – Houston, Texas
KSCS – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
WXTU – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Big market
WIRK – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Florida
WKDF – Nashville, Tennessee
WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio
WWKA-Orlando, Florida.
Middle market
KUZZ – Bakersfield, California.
KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
WGGY – Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pennsylvania.
WPCV – Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida
WQMX-Akron, Ohio
Small market
KCLR – Columbia, Missouri
WBYT – South Bend, Ind.
WKML – Fayetteville, NC
WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tennessee-Va.
WYCT – Pensacola, Florida.
The 2023 CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, will air live on ABC on Wednesday, November 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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