| Date: | November 20, 2024 |
| Location: | Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee |
| Host: | Luke Bryan Peyton Manning Lainey Wilson |
| Most Nominations: | Morgan Wallen (7) |
| Most Wins: | Chris Stapleton (3) |
| Network: | ABC, Hulu |
| Main: | CMA |
| Previous: | 57th |
| Image Size: | 200 |
The 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on November 20, 2024, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony was broadcast live on ABC and was available to stream the next day on Hulu.[1]
On September 30, 2024, the association announced that Lainey Wilson, would join fellow CMA award winner Luke Bryan and NFL superstar Peyton Manning as the pair would once again return as the hosts for the upcoming ceremony. Nominee eligibility ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.[2] Voting for the CMA Awards Final Ballot ends Tuesday, Oct. 29.
George Strait was announced as the recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award on November 12, 2024. A statement by the CMA chief executive officer Sarah Trahern read “There have been few other artists as authentically Texas and authentically country as George Strait, and country music fans all over the world have been better for it. As a three-time CMA entertainer of the year and the most nominated artist of all time, he serves as an inspiration and icon to many of the great, new artists we know today. I am thrilled we are awarding him with this deserving honor.”[3]
On August 28, CMA announced that the list of nominees will be released on, Monday, September 9.[4] Morgan Wallen leads in nominations with 7 nods.
| Performer(s) | Song(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Post Malone Chris Stapleton | "California Sober" | |
| Megan Moroney | "Am I Okay?" | |
| Shaboozey | "Highway" "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" | |
| Ella Langley Riley Green | "You Look Like You Love Me" | |
| Thomas Rhett Teddy Swims | "Somethin' 'Bout a Woman" "Lose Control" | |
| Luke Combs | "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" | |
| Kelsea Ballerini Noah Kahan | "Cowboys Cry Too" | |
| Cody Johnson Carrie Underwood | "I'm Gonna Love You" | |
| Chris Stapleton | "What Am I Gonna Do" | |
| Kacey Musgraves | "The Architect" | |
| Brooks & Dunn Jelly Roll | "Believe" | |
| Post Malone | "Yours" | |
| Lainey Wilson | "4x4xU" | |
| Bailey Zimmerman | "New To Country" | |
| Lainey Wilson Jamey Johnson Miranda Lambert Parker McCollum George Strait Chris Stapleton | Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award honoring George Strait "Amarillo By Morning" "Give It Away" "Troubadour" "Honky Tonk Hall of Fame" | |
| Ashley McBryde | Tribute to Kris Kristofferson "Help Me Make It Through the Night" | |
| Luke Bryan | "Love You, Miss You, Mean It" | |
| Eric Church | "Darkest Hour" | |
| Jelly Roll Keith Urban | "Liar" | |
| Dierks Bentley Molly Tuttle Sierra Hull Bronwyn Keith-Hynes | "American Girl" |
| Presenter(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Billy Bob Thornton and Mark Collie | Presented "Single of the Year" | |
| Jordan Davis, Carly Pearce, and Daniel Sunjata | Presented "Song of The Year" | |
| Clint Black and Caleb Pressley | Presented "New Artist of the Year" | |
| The Oak Ridge Boys | Presented "Vocal Group of the Year" | |
| Don Johnson and Katharine McPhee | Presented "Album of the Year" | |
| Mitchell Tenpenny and Taylor Frankie Paul | Presented "Vocal Duo of the Year" | |
| Little Big Town and Freddie Freeman | Presented "Male Vocalist of the Year" | |
| Simone Biles | Presented "Female Vocalist of the Year" | |
| Jeff Bridges | Presented "Entertainer of the Year" |
Following the Country Music Association's announcement of the nominations, numerous US and international publications and music websites criticized the awards ceremony's decision not to nominate Beyoncé and her eighth studio album Cowboy Carter, as well as the lead single "Texas Hold 'Em", in their respective categories, despite the cultural impact and commercial performance to the country genre of the entire project.[5] [6] [7] The event was blamed for conservatism and racism against black artists,[8] [9] [10] also referring to the singer's performance of "Daddy Lessons" with The Chicks at the 2016 CMAs, in which the artist herself said she did not feel welcomed by the award ceremony.[11] [12] [13]
Aja Romano of Vox wrote that although there may be "logistical reasons" behind the snub, "the CMA has a noticeable pattern of erasing and sidelining Black women" and that "Beyoncé is actively aware of this gatekeeping, [...] It's hardly any wonder she distanced herself and her album from the country establishment from the start; she likely knew well before the rest of us that the CMAs were never going to let her in the door".[14] Highlighting that the first black woman to win an award at the CMAs was Tracy Chapman for Luke Combs' cover of "Fast Car" in 2023, Larisha Paul of Rolling Stone wrote that it "feels less like honorable accomplishments and more like bright red indicators of the sectors of the industry that are most resistant to change" and stating that "the institution has barely made an effort to recognize Black artists to begin, so at some point the snubs begin to register as expected rather than surprising".[15]
US nonprofit civil rights organization Color of Change president Rashad Robinson accused the ceremony to not recognized African Americans country musicians and the history of the genere, stating: "Recognizing Beyoncé at the CMAs would force everyone to confront a multitude of truths: the roots of country music in Black music, the history of racism in country music and the prospect of having to give up not only their white audiences but the part of their audience that can't stand to see Black excellence succeed in this country. It would also force them to confront the one enclave of culture they use as an escape from ever having to see Black people: their music".[16]
On September 17 in an interview with Variety, nine-time CMA award winner, country music legend, and Cowboy Carter collaborator, Dolly Parton spoke on Beyonce's apparent snub, "She's a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base. It wasn't like she just appeared out of nowhere [...] There's so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can't really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that [...] I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album."[17]