LOS ANGELES — The CMA Awards are Wednesday on ABC, and On The Red Carpet has a special preview of what you can expect on Country Music’s Biggest Night!
Lainey Wilson is back to host the show and she’s also tied for the most nominations with six, including Entertainer of the Year.
“I remember being a little girl and just sitting in front of the TV just waiting for the CMA Awards to come on,” Wilson said. “It was like Super Bowl at my house.”
Last year, Wilson made her CMA Awards hosting debut with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning. Now, she’ll become just the third woman to host the awards solo, following in the footsteps of country legends Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.
“It’s crazy to think that I was ever even invited to attend something like this, much less be nominated and win something,” Wilson said. “And now I’m getting the chance to host it and represent country music, so I don’t take that lightly. I think that little girl in front of that TV would be awfully proud.”
Along with Wilson, the other Entertainer of the Year nominees are Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen, who won the award last year.
Meanwhile, matching Wilson with a year’s best six nominations are two other leading ladies of country music, Megan Moroney and Ella Langley, whose win for Musical Event of the Year with Riley Green in 2024 was announced live during the “On The Red Carpet at the CMA Awards” preshow.
“This is the first award I’ve ever won,” Langley told On The Red Carpet. “This is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do with my life, so this is a very big deal for me and a very special night.”
Langley and Green won for their hit “You Look Like You Love Me” which is nominated again this year for both Single and Song of the Year.
Langley is also nominated for New Artist of the Year along with Shaboozey, Zach Top, Stephen Wilson Jr. and Tucker Wetmore.
“I moved to Nashville five years ago,” Wetmore told On The Red Carpet. “And I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know anything. I just had a handful of songs and a dream.”
A CMA Award nomination is a special honor, not just for first-time nominees like Wetmore, but even those artists who are here year after year like Little Big Town and Lady A.
“It’s all about the Nashville community,” Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman told On The Red Carpet. “For our friends to nominate us and vote for us and to have voted enough that we took so many awards home, it’s just really special.”
“The CMA Awards has always felt kind of like the Grammys of Country Music,” Lady A’s Charles Kelley said. “It being in town, in Nashville, you know makes it even that more special. It just always felt like one of those ones that felt a little extra reverent for us.”
Lady A and Little Big Town are nominated for “Vocal Group of the Year” along with Rascal Flatts, The Red Clay Strays and Old Dominion who’ve won in the category a historic seven consecutive years.
The 59th CMA Awards are live on ABC Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 8/7c.
Don’t miss our live streaming preshow, “On The Red Carpet at the CMA Awards” beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT before the ceremony featuring live interviews with the nominees, performers and presenters, red carpet fashion analysis and more! You can stream it all live at OnTheRedCarpet.com, CMAAwards.com, YouTube.com/OnTheRedCarpet and on Hulu.
And watch our full episode, “On The Red Carpet: CMA Awards Preview” in the video player above.
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