The nominations for the 2026 CMA Awards have been revealed, with Ella Langley leading the field with nine nominations as country music prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its biggest annual awards night.
The 60th Annual CMA Awards will take place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday 18 November, with Lainey Wilson returning as host for a third consecutive year. The eligibility period for this year’s awards ran from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
Langley’s remarkable year is reflected across the nominations. As well as securing her first nomination for the night’s biggest prize, Entertainer of the Year, she has two entries in Single of the Year with “Be Her” and “Choosin’ Texas”, while both songs also feature among the Song of the Year nominees. Her album Dandelion is nominated for Album of the Year, and she also appears in Female Vocalist, Musical Event and Music Video categories.
It puts Langley alongside some of country’s biggest established names in the Entertainer of the Year category, where she faces Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson. Wilson will be looking to retain the title after winning Entertainer of the Year in 2025.
Miranda Lambert has another significant year with seven nominations, while Kacey Musgraves and producer-songwriter Ben West receive five apiece. Cody Johnson follows with four nominations.
There is plenty of interest further down the ballot too, with 13 first-time CMA nominees this year. They include Avery Anna, Carter Faith, Emily Ann Roberts, Muscadine Bloodline and Thelma & James. Avery Anna, Faith and Roberts will compete for New Artist of the Year alongside Tucker Wetmore and Stephen Wilson Jr.
A heavyweight Album of the Year contest
The Album of the Year category brings together five particularly strong releases. Langley’s Dandelion is nominated alongside Zach Top’s Ain’t In It For My Health, Kacey Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere, Parker McCollum’s self-titled album and Luke Combs’ The Way I Am.
Female Vocalist of the Year is similarly packed, with Lambert, Langley, Megan Moroney, Musgraves and Wilson making up the five nominees.
For Male Vocalist, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Zach Top and Stephen Wilson Jr. will compete for the award. Johnson enters as the reigning winner after ending Stapleton’s four-year run in the category at the 2025 ceremony.
There could also be another change of guard in the group and duo categories. The Red Clay Strays, who ended Old Dominion’s seven-year winning streak in Vocal Group last year, are nominated again alongside Lady A, Little Big Town, Midland and Old Dominion. Vocal Duo of the Year features Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Dan + Shay, Muscadine Bloodline and Thelma & James.
Collaborations feature prominently
Some of 2026’s major country collaborations are recognised in Musical Event of the Year.
The nominees include Miranda Lambert with Chris Stapleton for “A Song To Sing”, Kacey Musgraves featuring Lambert on “Horses and Divorces”, Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen’s “I Can’t Love You Anymore”, Carly Pearce and Riley Green’s “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay”, and the four-way combination of HARDY, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen and Tim McGraw on “McArthur”.
The nominations follow a memorable 2025 ceremony in which Langley and Wilson were among the night’s biggest winners. Langley’s collaboration with Riley Green, “You Look Like You Love Me”, collected Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Music Video of the Year, while Wilson added another Entertainer of the Year victory.
This year’s ceremony has the added significance of marking 60 years of the CMA Awards, which were first presented in 1967.
Performers for the anniversary show have not yet been announced. The ceremony will be broadcast live in the USA on ABC and Disney+ from 7pm Central Time on 18 November, with streaming available on Hulu the following day. Last year, UK fans could tune in on BBC Iplayer live, with a special BBC Four show after the ceremony.
For UK country fans, the nominations provide an early indication of the artists and records that will dominate the conversation heading into Nashville’s biggest awards night — and, with nine nominations to her name, Ella Langley will arrive at the 60th CMA Awards with more opportunities to take home a trophy than anyone else.
2026 CMA Awards — Full List of Nominees
| Entertainer of the Year |
Luke Combs Cody Johnson Ella Langley Chris Stapleton Lainey Wilson |
|---|---|
| Album of the Year |
Ain’t In It For My Health — Zach Top Dandelion — Ella Langley Middle of Nowhere — Kacey Musgraves Parker McCollum — Parker McCollum The Way I Am — Luke Combs |
| Female Vocalist of the Year |
Miranda Lambert Ella Langley Megan Moroney Kacey Musgraves Lainey Wilson |
| Male Vocalist of the Year |
Luke Combs Cody Johnson Chris Stapleton Zach Top Stephen Wilson Jr. |
| Vocal Group of the Year |
Lady A Little Big Town Midland Old Dominion The Red Clay Strays |
| Vocal Duo of the Year |
Brooks & Dunn Brothers Osborne Dan + Shay Muscadine Bloodline Thelma & James |
| New Artist of the Year |
Avery Anna Carter Faith Emily Ann Roberts Tucker Wetmore Stephen Wilson Jr. |
| Single of the Year |
“Be Her” — Ella Langley “Choosin’ Texas” — Ella Langley “I Knew It, I Knew You” — Taylor Swift “Somewhere Over Laredo” — Lainey Wilson “The Fall” — Cody Johnson |
| Song of the Year |
“Be Her” — Smith Ahnquist, Michael Hardy, Ella Langley, Jordan Schmidt “Beautiful Things” — Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon, Connie Harrington, Megan Moroney “Choosin’ Texas” — Luke Dick, Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor “Dry Spell” — Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne “Gary” — Stephen Wilson Jr. |
| Musical Event of the Year |
“A Song To Sing” — Miranda Lambert with Chris Stapleton “Horses and Divorces” — Kacey Musgraves feat. Miranda Lambert “I Can’t Love You Anymore” — Ella Langley & Morgan Wallen “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” — Carly Pearce & Riley Green “McArthur” — HARDY, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen & Tim McGraw |
| Music Video of the Year |
“Choosin’ Texas” — Ella Langley “Dry Spell” — Kacey Musgraves “Gary” — Stephen Wilson Jr. “The Fall” — Cody Johnson “White Horse” — Chris Stapleton |
| Musician of the Year |
Tom Bukovac — Guitar Jenee Fleenor — Fiddle Paul Franklin — Steel Guitar Rob McNelley — Guitar Charlie Worsham — Guitar |
