Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley and Riley Green each scored three honors at the 59th annual CMA Awards show Wednesday night, with Wilson taking away the most coveted prize, entertainer of the year.
Surprises were in order in some of the categories considered long held by intractable repeat winners, Cody Johnson won for best male vocalist, finally moving Chris Stapleton out of that position, while the Red Clay Strays won vocal group of the year, supplanting the seemingly indomitable Old Dominion.
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Wilson, the show's host, won for album of the year — for "Whirlwind" — and female vocalist as well as entertainer of the year.
Langley and Green were duet partners whose teaming on "You Look Like You Love Me" landed both of them wins single of the year, song of the year and music video of the year.
"I was just so tickled to be hosting this thing tonight," Wilson said upon winning the climactic award, assuring the crowd she would've been OK with a loss, given what a win her first solo hosting gig turned out to be. After giving her speech, she laughed upon remembering that it was her duty to provide closing remarks for the show, too. "I forgot I was hosting this thing," she admitted. "Thank you for letting me run my mouth on this legendary stage and celebrate the best genre in the world, country dang music."
"Mama, daddy, look, check it out," Wilson said while receiving an earlier award. "I wrote this during a time of my life that was constantly changing like a lot of y'all down here. And i just remember being that little 11-year-old girl who would come home from school and pick up my guitar and pour my heart and soul into that guitar, and that's how I navigated and communicated. And that's exactly what I did these last two years of my life, when I felt my life was changing but I still felt exactly the same."
Ella Langley was an early leader with three wins out of her six nominations. She and duet partner Riley Green won two categories on the broadcast for their hit "You Look Like You Love Me" — single of the year and song of the year — on top of music video of the year, which was announced prior to the telecast.
"This song is the gift that keeps on giving," said Langley, picking up the song of the year trophy. "How cool is it that a song with talking verses won song of the year? That's country music," said Green.
Zach Top was another big winner early in the telecast, taking the highly contested trophy for best new artist — and in the process, denying Langley at least one prize.
The Red Clay Strays were a surprise winner for vocal group of the year, in the rock-oriented band's first time being nominated, after a long reign by Old Dominion.
Cody Johnson also won for the first time in the male vocalist category. He expressed his appreciation for the mainstay in the category, saying "to be in a vocalist category with Chris Stapleton, who's one of the greatest vocalists of all time in any genre, thanks for paving the way."
Langley, Lainey Wilson and Megan Moroney came in tied with six nominations each, closely followed by Top with five.
Brooks & Dunn won vocal duo of the year for a 16th time. "I heard earlier in the night, 'You ever get sick of this?' Hell no!" exclaimed Kix Brooks.
Steel guitar player Paul Franklin provided what felt like both an inevitability and an upset when he won his first award for musician of the year after being nominated a staggering 33 times since 1989.
In lieu of a comedic monologue, host Lainey Wilson sang a medley of modern country classics, approaching the originators of the songs in the audience — including Brooks & Dunn during a snippet of "Hillbilly Deluxe," Langley during "You Look Like You Love Me," Gretchen Wilson on "Redneck Woman," Lady A on "Need You Now," Shaboozey on "Tipsy." When Lainey came up to Little Big Town, they surprised the audience by pulling out mics to take over their song "Girl Crush," and back on stage, Keith Urban brought out his guitar to jam with Wilson on "Where the Blacktop Ends."
Wilson is the sole host this year after co-hosting with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning in 2024. She joked about receiving texts from both men, including Bryan supposedly cluelessly writing her: "Lainey, what night is the show?"
Luke Combs and Megan Moroney gave the first two full performances of the telecast. Stephen Wilson Jr. got the night's first standing ovation with a solo acoustic cover of the classic "Stand by Me." Kenny Chesney also got the audience on its feet with a medley of two signature hits, "American Kids" and "When the Sun Goes Down." Vince Gill was the subject of a tribute performance by two great voices from inside and outside the genre, Brandi Carlile and Patty Loveless, who joined forces on a Gill song completely in the vein of the most classic country, "When I Call Your Name" (with instrumentalist winner Paul Franklin on pedal steel).
Here is a full list of the 2025 nominations, with the winners' names appearing in bold:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR• Luke Combs• Cody Johnson• Chris Stapleton• Morgan Wallen•Lainey Wilson
SINGLE OF THE YEARAward goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)• "4x4xU" – Lainey WilsonProducer: Jay JoyceMix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce• "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" – Luke CombsProducers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan SingletonMix Engineer: Chip Matthews• "Am I Okay?" – Megan MoroneyProducer: Kristian BushMix Engineer: Justin Niebank• "I Never Lie" – Zach TopProducer: Carson ChamberlainMix Engineer: Matt Rovey• "You Look Like You Love Me" – Ella Langley & Riley GreenProducer: Will BundyMix Engineer: Jim Cooley
ALBUM OF THE YEARAward goes to Artist, Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)• "Am I Okay?" – Megan MoroneyProducer: Kristian BushMix Engineer: Justin Niebank• "Cold Beer & Country Music" – Zach TopProducer: Carson ChamberlainMix Engineer: Matt Rovey• "F-1 Trillion" – Post MaloneProducers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, HoskinsMix Engineer: Ryan Gore• "I'm the Problem" – Morgan WallenProducers: Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Joey MoiMix Engineers: Charlie Handsome, Joey Moi• "Whirlwind" – Lainey WilsonProducer: Jay JoyceMix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
SONG OF THE YEARAward goes to Songwriter(s)• "4x4xU"Songwriters: Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere, Lainey Wilson• "Am I Okay?"Songwriters: Jessie Jo Dillon, Luke Laird, Megan Moroney• "I Never Lie"Songwriters: Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols, Zach Top• "Texas"Songwriters: Johnny Clawson, Josh Dorr, Lalo Guzman, Kyle Sturrock• "You Look Like You Love Me"Songwriters: Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Raitiere
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR• Kelsea Ballerini• Miranda Lambert• Ella Langley• Megan Moroney• Lainey Wilson
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR• Luke Combs• Cody Johnson• Chris Stapleton• Zach Top• Morgan Wallen
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR• Lady A• Little Big Town• Old Dominion• Rascal Flatts• The Red Clay Strays
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR• Brooks & Dunn• Brothers Osborne• Dan + Shay• Maddie & Tae• The War and Treaty
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEARAward goes to Artists and Producer(s)• "Don't Mind if I Do" – Riley Green (featuring Ella Langley)Producers: Scott Borchetta, Jimmy Harnen, Dann Huff• "Hard Fought Hallelujah" – Brandon Lake with Jelly RollProducer: Micah Nichols• "I'm Gonna Love You" – Cody Johnson (with Carrie Underwood)Producer: Trent Willmon• "Pour Me a Drink" – Post Malone (feat. Blake Shelton)Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome• "You Had to Be There" – Megan Moroney (feat. Kenny Chesney)Producer: Kristian Bush
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR• Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle• Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar• Brent Mason – Guitar• Rob McNelley – Guitar• Derek Wells – Guitar
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEARAward goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)• "Am I Okay?" – Megan MoroneyDirectors: Alexandra Gavillet, Megan Moroney• "I'm Gonna Love You" – Cody Johnson (with Carrie Underwood)Director: Dustin Haney• "Somewhere Over Laredo" – Lainey WilsonDirector: TK McKamy• "Think I'm in Love With You" – Chris StapletonDirector: Running Bear• "You Look Like You Love Me" – Ella Langley & Riley GreenDirectors: Ella Langley, John Park, Wales Toney
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR• Ella Langley• Shaboozey• Zach Top• Tucker Wetmore• Stephen Wilson Jr.
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