Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and Gabby Barrett Lead Nominations List at 2021 CMA Awards

Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Gabby Barrett

Jason Davis/Getty; Shannon Finney/Getty; John Shearer/ACMA2020/Getty

Country’s biggest night is almost here!

The Country Music Association Awards are just two months away — and the nominations have been announced! Led by Eric Church and Chris Stapleton, this year’s awards show is scheduled for Nov. 10.

Church — the reigning entertainer of the year — and Stapleton, 43, are both up for the same five awards: entertainer male vocalist, album, single and song of the year. 

Following closely behind with the most nods is Gabby Barrett who is up for new artist, female vocalist, single and song of the year. (Both single and song awards are for her hit “The Good Ones.”) Also up for four awards are mix engineer Jason Hall and producer Jay Joyce.

With three nods are Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris and Chris Young.

CMA Nominees

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“This year, we have the opportunity to honor the superstars, new artists and emerging creators who are paving the way for Country Music,” said CMA CEO Sarah Trahern in a press release. “These nominees exemplify the creativity, passion and heart that make our Country Music community unlike any other genre. The breadth of voices is evident in this year’s nominations, and we could not be more thrilled to celebrate our deserving nominees in November!” 

In the coveted entertainer of the year category are Carrie Underwood, Combs, Lambert, Stapleton and Church. (If either Lambert or Underwood take home the prize, they’d become the first woman in 10 years to take home the prize after Taylor Swift did in 2011.)

Notably returning to the CMA nominations list this year is Morgan Wallen for album of the year for his Dangerous: The Double Album after being barred from the ACM Awards earlier this year for using a racial slur.

Here’s the full list of nominations:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Eric Church

• Luke Combs  

• Miranda Lambert   

• Chris Stapleton

• Carrie Underwood  

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

• “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
  Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young
  Mix Engineer: Sean Moffitt

• “The Good Ones” – Gabby Barrett
  Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale
  Mix Engineers: Chris Galland, Manny Marroquin

• “Hell Of A View” – Eric Church
  Producer: Jay Joyce
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce  

• “One Night Standards” – Ashley McBryde
  Producer: Jay Joyce
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce  

• “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton
  Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
  Mix Engineer: Vance Powell

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• 29 – Carly Pearce
  Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Jimmy Robbins
  Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore 

• Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen
  Producers: Dave Cohen, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome and Joey Moi
  Mix Engineer: Joey Moi 

• Heart – Eric Church
  Producer: Jay Joyce
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce

• Skeletons – Brothers Osborne
  Producer: Jay Joyce
  Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce

• Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
  Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
  Mix Engineer: Vance Powell

SONG OF THE YEAR Award goes to Songwriter(s)

• “Forever After All”
  Songwriters: Luke Combs, Drew Parker, Robert Williford 

• “The Good Ones”
  Songwriters: Gabby Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, Jim McCormick

• “Hell Of A View”
  Songwriters: Casey Beathard, Eric Church, Monty Criswell 

• “One Night Standards”
  Songwriters: Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde

• “Starting Over”
  Songwriters: Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR  

• Gabby Barrett

• Miranda Lambert   

• Ashley McBryde  

• Maren Morris  

• Carly Pearce

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Dierks Bentley

• Eric Church   

• Luke Combs  

• Thomas Rhett  

• Chris Stapleton  

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Lady A 

• Little Big Town  

• Midland  

• Old Dominion   

• Zac Brown Band

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR  

• Brooks & Dunn  

• Brothers Osborne  

• Dan + Shay   

• Florida Georgia Line  

• Maddie & Tae

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR  

• “Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan
  Producer: Paul DiGiovanni 

• “Chasing After You” – Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris
  Producers: Aaron Eshuis, Teddy Reimer

• “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Elle King & Miranda Lambert
  Producer: Martin Johnson 

• “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
  Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young

• “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
  Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR  

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)

• “Chasing After You” – Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris
  Director: TK McKamy 

• “Famous Friends” – Chris Young with Kane Brown
  Director: Peter Zavadil 

• “Gone” – Dierks Bentley
  Directors: Wes Edwards, Travis Nicholson, Ed Pryor, Running Bear, Sam Siske

• “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
  Director: Patrick Tracy 

• “Younger Me” – Brothers Osborne
  Director: Reid Long 

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR  

• Jimmie Allen  

• Ingrid Andress  

• Gabby Barrett  

• Mickey Guyton

• HARDY

The CMA Awards are set to air on Nov. 10 from Nashville on ABC.