# 53rd Annual Country Music Association Awards

53rd Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on November 13, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony recognizes some of the best country music released during the eligibility period. Carrie Underwood hosted the event with special guest hosts Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton, celebrating legendary women in country music.

## Background

"In addition to awarding the year's best and brightest in the genre, the 53rd Annual CMA Awards will celebrate the legacy of women within country music, and we couldn't think of a more dynamic group of women to host the show." said CMA CEO Sarah Trahern. For the first time in CMA history, women were nominated in every category, except Male Vocalist of the Year. However, when all was said and done, the sole female Entertainer of the Year nominee, Carrie Underwood, lost the top honor to Garth Brooks; upsetting fans and leading to Garth Brooks stepping down from the category the following year.

## Winners and nominees

The CMA Awards nominees were announced live on Good Morning America by Jimmie Allen, Ashley McBryde, Midland and Morgan Wallen. For the 53rd CMA Awards, an artist must have released work in the eligibility period which ran from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. On November 6, 2019, Kris Kristofferson was revealed to be the recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Winners were denoted in Bold.
| Entertainer of the Year | Album of the Year |
| Garth Brooks Eric Church Chris Stapleton Carrie Underwood Keith Urban | Girl — Maren Morris Center Point Road — Thomas Rhett Cry Pretty — Carrie Underwood Dan + Shay — Dan + Shay Desperate Man — Eric Church |
| Male Vocalist of the Year | Female Vocalist of the Year |
| Luke Combs Dierks Bentley Thomas Rhett Chris Stapleton Keith Urban | Kacey Musgraves Kelsea Ballerini Miranda Lambert Maren Morris Carrie Underwood |
| Vocal Group of the Year | Vocal Duo of the Year |
| Old Dominion Lady Antebellum Little Big Town Midland Zac Brown Band | Dan + Shay Brooks & Dunn Brothers Osborne Florida Georgia Line Maddie & Tae |
| Single of the Year | Song of the Year |
| "God's Country" — Blake Shelton "Burning Man" — Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne "Girl" — Maren Morris "Millionaire" — Chris Stapleton "Speechless" — Dan + Shay | "Beautiful Crazy" — Luke Combs, Wyatt B. Durrette III, Robert Williford "Girl" — Maren Morris, Sarah Aarons, Greg Kurstin "God's Country" — Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy "Rainbow" — Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves "Tequila" — Dan Smyers, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynold |
| New Artist of the Year | Musician of the Year |
| Ashley McBryde Cody Johnson Midland Carly Pearce Morgan Wallen | Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle Paul Franklin, Steel Guitar Mac McAnally, Guitar Ilya Toshinsky, Banjo/Guitar Derek Wells, Guitar |
| Music Video of the Year | Musical Event of the Year |
| "Rainbow" — Kacey Musgraves "Burning Man" — Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne "GIRL" — Maren Morris "God's Country" — Blake Shelton "Some Of It" — Eric Church | "Old Town Road (Remix)" — Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus "All My Favorite People" — Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne "Brand New Man" — Brooks & Dunn and Luke Combs "Dive Bar" — Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton "What Happens in a Small Town" — Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell |
| Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award ||
| Kris Kristofferson ||

### International Awards

| Award | Recipient |
| International Artist Achievement Award | Kacey Musgraves |
| International Country Broadcaster Award | Baylen Leonard |
| Jo Walker-Meador International Award | Susan Heymann |
| Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award | Travis Collins and Ward Thomas |

## Performers

| Artist(s) | Song(s) |
| Dolly Parton Reba McEntire Carrie Underwood Jennifer Nettles Karen Fairchild Kimberly Schlapman The Highwomen Tanya Tucker Gretchen Wilson Crystal Gayle Terri Clark Sara Evans Martina McBride | Celebrating Women of Country "Those Memories of You" "You're Lookin' at Country" "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" "Delta Dawn" "Redneck Woman" "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" "Better Things to Do" "Born to Fly" "Independence Day" |
| Dan + Shay | "Speechless" |
| Miranda Lambert | "It All Comes Out in the Wash" |
| Reba McEntire | "Fancy" |
| Chris Stapleton Pink | "Love Me Anyway" |
| Old Dominion | "One Man Band" |
| Carrie Underwood | "Drinking Alone" |
| Luke Combs | "Beer Never Broke My Heart" |
| Kelsea Ballerini | "Homecoming Queen?" |
| Kelsea Ballerini Lindsay Ell Runaway June Maddie & Tae Ashley McBryde Carly Pearce Little Big Town | "Girl Crush" |
| Lady Antebellum Halsey | "What If I Never Get Over You" "Graveyard" |
| Brooks & Dunn Brothers Osborne | "Hard Workin' Man" |
| Maren Morris | "Girl" |
| Blake Shelton Jenee Fleenor | "God's Country" |
| Thomas Rhett | "Remember You Young" |
| Dolly Parton For King & Country Zach Williams | "God Only Knows" "There Was Jesus" "Faith" |
| Keith Urban | "We Were" |
| Dierks Bentley Sheryl Crow Chris Janson John Osborne Joe Walsh | Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award honoring Kris Kristofferson "Me and Bobby McGee" |
| Eric Church | "Some of It" |
| Kacey Musgraves Willie Nelson | "Rainbow Connection" "Rainbow" |
| Garth Brooks Blake Shelton | "Dive Bar" |

## Presenters

| Presenter(s) | Award |
| Lara Spencer and Deana Carter | Single of the Year |
| Jennifer Nettles and Kristin Chenoweth | Song of the Year |
| Blanco Brown and Jim Gaffigan | New Artist of the Year |
| Jimmie Allen and Midland | Vocal Duo of the Year |
| Hannah Brown, Cody Johnson and Morgan Wallen | Vocal Group of the Year |
| Bobby Bones and Joe Walsh | Album of the Year |
| Trisha Yearwood | Male Vocalist of the Year |
| Janie Fricke, Kathy Mattea, Martina McBride and Pam Tillis | Female Vocalist of the Year |
| Reese Witherspoon | Entertainer of the Year |