NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Editor's Note: The video above is from July 2020.
Country star Miranda Lambert turns her “Wildcard” into an ace as she’s the leading nominee at the 2020 Country Music Association Awards, including her first entertainer of the year nomination in five years.
The CMAs announced Tuesday that Lambert earned seven nominations. The Grammy winner was pushed by the success of songs like “Bluebird,” her first country airplay No. 1 in years, as well as positive reviews of her smart and sassy “Wildcard" album. She's followed by Luke Combs, who continues his streak of success as one of country music’s biggest streaming artists with six nominations, including his first for entertainer of the year. Combs earned his first all-genre No. 1 album last year with “What You See Is What You Get,” which had the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million on-demand streams.
The CMA Awards are normally held in November in Nashville, although details on this year’s awards show have not yet been released.
Dan + Shay's Dan Smyers has six nominations, including four he shares with bandmate Shay Mooney and three with pop star Justin Bieber for their crossover hit “10,000 Hours.” Smyers earned individual nominations for his work as a producer on the song. These are the first CMA nominations for Bieber, who won a CMT Music Award in 2011 for “That Should Be Me” with Rascal Flatts.
RELATED: 2019 CMA Awards: Winners list
Carrie Underwood join Lambert and Combs in the entertainer of the year category, along with Keith Urban and Eric Church. Garth Brooks, who won last year, recently announced he no longer wanted to be nominated for entertainer of the year because it was time for others to win.
Other top nominees include Maren Morris, who scored five nominations including song and single of the year for her love song, “The Bones." Her track became the longest-running No. 1 on Billboard's Hot country songs chart by a solo female artist since Taylor Swift's “We Are Never Getting Back Together.”
Producer Jay Joyce also earned five nominations for his work on albums by Lambert and Ashley McBryde, who earned three nominations including album of the year and female vocalist of the year.
After years of criticism for the lack of women on country radio, women actually outnumber men in the new artist category, which include Carly Pearce, Gabby Barrett and Ingrid Andress. Pearce earned three more nominations for her duet with Lee Brice, “I Hope You’re Happy Now," which was co-written by Combs. Barrett, who competed on “American Idol," earned a nomination for single of the year with “I Hope," a No. 1 country hit and Top 10 success on the pop charts. And Andress was nominated for song of the year with “More Hearts Than Mine." Morgan Wallen and Jimmie Allen round out the new artist nominees.
Notable snubs missing from the nomination list include country icon Tanya Tucker, who earned her first two Grammy Awards this year for her comeback album “While I'm Livin.'" The Chicks, who returned with their first new album in 14 years, also weren't nominated, likely due to a longstanding rift between some country fans and the outspoken female group. Sam Hunt, who put out a long-awaited album this year, was also missing from the nominations.
The coronavirus pandemic likely affected some of the nominations this year because touring was postponed and some albums were pushed back. Luke Bryan, who delayed his album until after the cutoff deadline for this year's awards show, was not nominated.
THE 54th ANNUAL CMA AWARDS” – FINAL NOMINEES:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Miranda Lambert
- Carrie Underwood
- Keith Urban
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer
- “10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay (with Justin Bieber)
Producer: Dan Smyers
Mix Engineer: Jeff Juliano - “Beer Never Broke My Heart” – Luke Combs
Producer: Scott Moffatt
Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley - “Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce - “The Bones” – Maren Morris
Producer: Greg Kurstin
Mix Engineer: Greg Kurstin - “I Hope” – Gabby Barrett
Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale
Mix Engineer: Buckley Miller
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist and Producer(s)
- Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi
Producers: Bart Butler, Ryan Gore, Jon Pardi - Never Will – Ashley McBryde
Producers: Jay Joyce, John Peets - Old Dominion – Old Dominion
Producers: Shane McAnally, Old Dominion - What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs
Producer: Scott Moffatt - Wildcard – Miranda Lambert
Producer: Jay Joyce
SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriters
- “Bluebird”
Songwriters: Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby, Miranda Lambert - “The Bones”
Songwriters: Maren Morris, Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz - “Even Though I'm Leaving”
Songwriters: Luke Combs, Wyatt B. Durrette III, Ray Fulcher - “I Hope You're Happy Now”
Songwriters: Luke Combs, Randy Montana, Carly Pearce, Jonathan Singleton - “More Hearts Than Mine”
Songwriters: Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis, Derrick Southerland
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Maren Morris
- Kacey Musgraves
- Carrie Underwood
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
- Keith Urban
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Midland
- Old Dominion
- Rascal Flatts
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
- Brooks & Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- Florida Georgia Line
- Maddie & Tae
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artists and Producer(s)
- “10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay (with Justin Bieber)
Producer: Dan Smyers - “Be A Light” – Thomas Rhett featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban
Producer: Dann Huff - “The Bones” – Maren Morris with Hozier
Producer: Greg Kurstin - “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” – Miranda Lambert (feat. Maren Morris, Elle King, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes & Caylee Hammack)
Producer: Jay Joyce - “I Hope You're Happy Now” – Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
Producer: busbee
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
- Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
- Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar
- Rob McNelley, Guitar
- Ilya Toshinskiy, Guitar
- Derek Wells, Guitar
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director
- “10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay (with Justin Bieber)
Director: Patrick Tracy - “Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert
Director: Trey Fanjoy - “Homemade” – Jake Owen
Director: Justin Clough - “I Hope You're Happy Now” – Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
Director: Sam Siske - “Second One To Know” – Chris Stapleton
Director: David Coleman
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Jimmie Allen
- Ingrid Andress
- Gabby Barrett
- Carly Pearce
- Morgan Wallen