Cody Johnson caught up with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly on the Winners Walk at the CMA Awards 2024.
The 2024 CMA Awards, held on Wednesday (Nov. 20) at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, had its fair share of snubs and surprises.
To be sure, many races went exactly as expected. Old Dominion won vocal group of the year for the seventh year in a row, the longest continuous winning streak in that category’s history. Old Dominion surpassed The Statler Brothers, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts, each of whom won six years in a row. (The Statlers are still ahead in terms of most total awards in the category – nine.)
Chris Stapleton won male vocalist of the year for the fourth year in a row – and for a record-extending eighth time overall. He’s far ahead of the pack in terms of most wins in the category. Runners-up, with five wins each, are Vince Gill, George Strait and Blake Shelton.
Lainey Wilson won female vocalist of the year for the third year in a row. She also took music video of the year for “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.”
Stapleton’s wins for single and song of the year for “White Horse” were also not exactly surprises. It’s the third time Stapleton has walked off with both of those awards. He doubled up in 2018 with “Broken Halos” and in 2021 with “Starting Over.”
The three-hour show was hosted by Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson and football great Peyton Manning. Tributes to the king of country, George Strait, and rock icon Tom Petty were among the show’s highlights. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises at the 2024 CMA Awards.
Megan Moroney caught up with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly on the Winners Walk at the CMA Awards 2024.
Morgan Wallen was crowned entertainer of the year at the 2024 CMA Awards, which were held on Wednesday (Nov. 20) at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Wallen’s coronation comes less than four years after a career-imperiling moment where he was caught on video using a racial slur, and suggests that he is now back in Nashville’s good graces. (He did come up short in his other six categories this year, so he’s perhaps still not all the way back.) Wallen was a no-show, perhaps sensing that he was still persona non grata.
Wallen’s win for entertainer of the year means that Chris Stapleton has now lost in that category eight times without winning. That’s the most nominations for entertainer of the year without a win. Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood are currently tied for second place on the list of artists with the most nominations without a win (six).
But Stapleton won three awards on the night, more than any other artist. This brings his career total of CMA wins to 18. Only two other artists have won 18 or more CMA Awards. Brooks & Dunn, who won another award this year, lead with 19 awards. Vince Gill, like Stapleton, has won 18 awards. At this year’s show, Stapleton pulled ahead of George Strait (17 wins) and Alan Jackson (16).
Stapleton won male vocalist of the year for a record-extending eighth time. He’s far ahead of the pack in terms of most wins in the category. Runners-up, with five wins each, are Gill, Strait and Blake Shelton. (By way of comparison, the top winner in the female vocalist of the year category, Lambert, has won it seven times.)
Stapleton also won single and song of the year for “White Horse.” It’s the third time he has doubled up and won both awards on the same night. He also won both awards for “Broken Halos” in 2018 and “Starting Over” in 2021. Stapleton is the first artist in CMA history to win single of the year three times. Stapleton’s single beat a pair of long-running No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey and “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone featuring Wallen.
This was also Stapleton’s third win for song of the year. Only two other songwriters have won three or more times in this category. Gill leads with four song of the year wins. Don Schlitz also won it three times.
Lainey Wilson won two awards, second only to Stapleton. She took female vocalist of the year for the third year in a row. She’s the sixth woman to win in this category three or more years in a row. Tammy Wynette was the first singer to accomplish the feat (1968-70), followed by Reba McEntire (1984-87), Martina McBride (2002-04), Underwood (2006-08) and Lambert (2010-15). Wilson also won music video of the year for “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” This ups her CMA tally to nine wins, all in just three years.
Old Dominion won vocal group of the year for the seventh consecutive year. They’re the first group ever to win in this category seven years running, though they still have a ways to go to catch up to The Statler Brothers for most total wins in the category (nine).
Brooks & Dunn won vocal duo of the year for the 15th time; the first time since 2006. Everyone was wondering if Brothers Osborne or Dan + Shay would win this time, or could The War and Treaty possibly win in an upset? Few thought Brooks & Dunn would reclaim the award they won 14 times between 1992 and 2006. When Brooks & Dunn first won the award, they beat reigning champs The Judds. With this latest win, they beat reigning champs Brothers Osborne.
Megan Moroney won new artist of the year on her second nomination. She lost to Jelly Roll last year. (Artists are allowed two nominations in this category.)
Cody Johnson’s ninth studio album, Leather, won album of the year. Its win was considered a surprise given the strong competition, including Stapleton’s Higher and Jelly Roll’s Whitsitt Chapel.
Guitar player Charlie Worsham won musician of the year for the first time, ending Jenee Fleenor’s five-year hold on the award. With Worsham’s win, steel guitarist Paul Franklin lost in the category for the 32nd time. That’s not a typo – Franklin has been nominated, and lost, in the category 32 times.
Jeff Bridges is many things – and “legendary actor” is certainly one of them. Not only did Bridges bring The Dude to life in 1998’s The Big Lebowski, creating one of the most beloved (and imitated) cinematic characters of the last 30 years, but he beautifully portrayed an alcoholic country singer in 2009’s Crazy Heart and won the best actor Oscar for it.
Shortly after Crazy Heart, Bridges – who used to play around on the guitar with Kris Kristofferson when the two worked together on 1980’s Heaven’s Gate – began taking music more seriously in a professional sense. After performing live a few times and trying his hand at covering some country classics, Bridges recorded his own self-titled album of country music in 2011 with legendary producer T Bone Burnett.
So yes, he’s an actor, a singer and a legend. But it seems that Bridges may not be a particularly attentive listener when it comes to country music today, at least based on his appearance at the 2024 CMA Awards on Wednesday (Nov. 20). While presenting entertainer of the year (the biggest award the Country Music Association gives out) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Bridges announced that Morgan Wallen – one of the most popular artists today in any musical genre — was the winner. But instead of pronouncing Wallen as, well, Wallen, Bridges said “Morgan Waylon” (or perhaps “Morgan Whalen” — maybe he’s been reading Moby-Dick lately).
“Morgan’s not here, man, Morgan couldn’t make it tonight, so I’m gonna accept on his behalf,” Bridges said after bungling the surname pronunciation.
“Let’s hear it for Morgan!” he continued as 2024 CMAs co-hosts Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson rushed the stage to relieve him at that moment with some closing comments and jokes about their bespoke CMA host t-shirts.
Wallen, Waylon. Tomato, tomatoe. Well, you can’t be right all the time, can you? And it’s nothing a white Russian – or a rug that really ties a room together – can’t fix.
Brooks & Dunn caught up with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly on the Winners Walk at the CMA Awards 2024.
More than two decades since it was released, Chicago indie veterans Wilco have announced a 20th anniversary edition of their fifth album, A Ghost is Born.
The new deluxe edition package arrives via Nonesuch on February 7th, 2025 and complements the original recording with a myriad new extras.
Available in both a nine-CD or nine-LP/four-CD format, the packages include the initial album paired with alternates, outtakes, and demos which chart the record’s conception, in addition to a full 2004 concert recording from Boston’s Wang Center and the band’s “fundamentals” workshop sessions.
In total, 65 previously unreleased tracks are accompanied by a 48-page hardcover book which features liner notes from Grammy-winning writer Bob Mehr and previously unpublished photos. Alongside its announcement, the band have also shared an alternate version of “Handshake Drugs”, recorded at New York’s Sear Sound in November 2003.
Released in June 2004, A Ghost is Born arrived as Wilco’s fifth album and as the follow-up to 2001’s difficult (though critically-acclaimed) Yanke Hotel Foxtrot. Peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, it was the group’s highest-charting album up to that point, and garnered reviews that equally labelled it their most “difficult and uncompromising album to date” and “the ever-evolving band’s richest work”.
Notwithstanding, the album went on to be named Best Alternative Music Album and Best Recording Package at the 2005 Grammy Awards, and became revered amongst fans as one of Wilco’s best.
“I was worried the album was going to feel like something dark and not me anymore,” frontman Jeff Tweedy told Mehr as part of the record’s new liner notes. “But the album was ahead of me as a person.
“It was the part of me that I was trying to preserve—enthusiastic and furious about the world, as well as open and loving. I reached that in the music, before I could get there emotionally on my own.”
Temperatures rose at the 2024 CMA Awards when Jelly Roll stepped out onstage for his second performance of the night, joined by Keith Urban for a rousing performance of “Liar.”
Backdropped by bursts of flames and rhythmic balls of sparks, the two musicians brought the heat, with the “Son of a Sinner” singer passionately belting out his lyrics while the Australian-American country star shredded on guitar next to him. “You ain’t nothin’ but a liar/ Yeah, I walk right out the fire,” Jelly sang, with his wife — podcaster Bunnie XO — mouthing along to the lyrics in the audience. “Yeah, you try to keep me down/ Try to put me underground/ But I’m only going higher.”
Bowing at No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 18 on the Hot Country Songs chart, “Liar” appears on Jelly’s Billboard 200-topping album Beautifully Broken. The Tennessee native previously debuted the track in May at the ACM Awards.
Jelly was up for numerous awards at the 2024 CMA Awards, including entertainer of the year, which an absent Morgan Wallen won at the very end of the night. He was also in the running for album of the year with 2023’s Whitsitt Chapel and male vocalist of the year, but the prizes went to Cody Johnson’s Leather and Chris Stapleton, respectively.
Earlier that night, the “Need a Favor” musician took the stage for the first time, performing a religious rendition of his collaboration with Brooks & Dunn “Believe.” The three-hour show was hosted by Peyton Manning, Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson and took place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
The 2024 CMA Awards are a wrap!
Going into Wednesday’s (Nov. 20) ceremony at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Morgan Wallen was the leading nominee, racking up seven nods, and he ended up taking home the night’s top prize of entertainer of the year. Chris Stapleton also had an excellent night, winning three of the five prizes he was up for, including male vocalist of the year.
Who else won big? Find the full winners list below.
Entertainer of the year
Luke Combs
Jelly Roll
Chris Stapleton
WINNER: Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
Single of the year
Award goes to artist(s), producer(s) and mix engineer(s)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey; Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry; Mix Engineer: Raul Lopez
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen); Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins; Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
“Watermelon Moonshine” – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
WINNER: “White Horse” – Chris Stapleton; Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton; Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
Album of the year
Award goes to artist, producer(s) and mix engineer(s)
Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves; Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian; Mix Engineers: Shawn Everett, Konrad Snyder
Fathers & Sons – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews
Higher – Chris Stapleton; Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton; Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
WINNER: Leather – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
Whitsitt Chapel – Jelly Roll; Producers: Andrew Baylis, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Jesse Frasure, David Garcia, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft, Austin Nivarel, David Ray Stevens; Mix Engineers: Jeff Braun, Jim Cooley
Song of the year
Award goes to songwriter(s)
“Burn It Down”; Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Parker McCollum, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
“Dirt Cheap”; Songwriter: Josh Phillips
“I Had Some Help”; Songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters
“The Painter”; Songwriters: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins
WINNER: “White Horse”; Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson
Female vocalist of the year
Kelsea Ballerini
Ashley McBryde
Megan Moroney
Kacey Musgraves
WINNER: Lainey Wilson
Male vocalist of the year
Luke Combs
Jelly Roll
Cody Johnson
WINNER: Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Vocal group of the year
Lady A
Little Big Town
WINNER: Old Dominion
The Red Clay Strays
Zac Brown Band
Vocal duo of the year
WINNER: Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty
Musical event of the year
Award goes to artists and producer(s)
“Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini (with Noah Kahan); Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen); Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
“I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan (ft. Kacey Musgraves); Producer: Zach Bryan
“Man Made a Bar” – Morgan Wallen (feat. Eric Church); Producer: Joey Moi
WINNER: “you look like you love me” – Ella Langley (feat. Riley Green); Producer: Will Bundy
Musician of the year
Tom Bukovac – Guitar
Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle
Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
Rob McNelley – Guitar
WINNER: Charlie Worsham – Guitar
Music video of the year
Award goes to artist(s) and director(s)
“Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson; Director: Dustin Haney
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen); Director: Chris Villa
“I’m Not Pretty” – Megan Moroney; Directors: Jeff Johnson, Megan Moroney
“The Painter” – Cody Johnson; Director: Dustin Haney
WINNER: “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” – Lainey Wilson; Director: Patrick Tracy
New artist of the year
WINNER: Megan Moroney
Shaboozey
Nate Smith
Mitchell Tenpenny
Zach Top
Bailey Zimmerman
2024 CMA Broadcast Awards
Broadcast personality of the year (by market size)
Weekly national
“American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Cumulus/Westwood One
“Country Gold with Terri Clark” (Terri Clark) – Westwood One
WINNER: “Crook & Chase Countdown” (Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase) – Jim Owens Entertainment
“Highway Hot 30 with Buzz Brainard” (Buzz Brainard) – SiriusXM
“Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Silverfish Media
Daily national
WINNER: “The Bobby Bones Show” (Bobby Bones, Amy Brown, “Lunchbox” Dan Chappell, Eddie Garcia, Morgan Huelsman, “SZN Raymundo” Ray Slater, “Mike D” Rodriguez, Abby Anderson, “Kick Off Kevin” O’Connell, and Stephen “Scuba Steve” Spradlin) – iHeartMedia
“Michael J On Air” (Michael J. Stuehler) – iHeartMedia
“Nights with Elaina” (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One / Cumulus Media
“PickleJar Up All Night with Patrick Thomas” (Patrick Thomas) – PickleJar / Cumulus Media
“Steve Harmon Show” (Steve Harmon) – Westwood One / Cumulus Media
Major market
“The Andie Summers Show” (Andie Summers, Jeff Kurkjian, Donnie Black, and Shannon Boyle) – WXTU, Philadelphia, Pa.
“Chris Carr & Company” (Chris Carr, Kia Becht, and Sam Sansevere) – KEEY, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
WINNER: “Frito & Katy” (Tucker “Frito” Young and Katy Dempsey) – KCYY, San Antonio, Texas
“The Morning Wolfpack with Matt McAllister” (Matt McAllister, Gabe Mercer, and “Captain Ron” Koons) – KKWF, Seattle, Wash.
“The Most Fun Afternoons With Scotty Kay” (Scotty Kay) – WUSN, Chicago, Ill.
Large market
“Dale Carter Morning Show” (Dale Carter) – KFKF, Kansas City, Mo.
“Heather Froglear” (Heather Froglear) – KFRG, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.
WINNER: “Jesse & Anna” (Jesse Tack and Anna Marie) – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
“Mike & Amanda” (Mike Wheless and Amanda Daughtry) – WQDR, Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
“On-Air with Anthony” (Anthony Donatelli) – KFRG, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.
Medium market
“Brent Michaels” (Brent Michaels) – KUZZ, Bakersfield, Calif.
“Joey & Nancy” (Joey Tack, Nancy Barger, and Karly Duggan) – WIVK, Knoxville, Tenn.
“New Country Mornings with Nancy and Woody” (Nancy Wilson and Aaron “Woody” Woods) – WHKO, Dayton, Ohio
“Scott and Sarah in the Morning” (Scott Wynn and Sarah Kay) – WQMX, Akron, Ohio
WINNER: “Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Small market
“Dan Austin Show” (Dan Austin) – WQHK, Fort Wayne, Ind.
“Dave and Jenn” (Dave Roberts and Jenn Seay) – WTCR, Huntington-Ashland, W. Va.
WINNER: “The Eddie Foxx Show” (Eddie Foxx and Amanda Foxx) – WKSF, Asheville, N.C.
“Hilley & Hart” (Kevin Hilley and Erin Hart) – KATI, Columbia, Mo.
“Officer Don & DeAnn” (“Officer Don” Evans and DeAnn Stephens) – WBUL, Lexington-Fayette, Ky.
Radio station of the year (by market size)
Major market
KCYY – San Antonio, Texas
KKBQ – Houston, Texas
KYGO – Denver, Colo.
WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.
WINNER: WYCD – Detroit, Mich.
Large market
WIRK – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
WINNER: WQDR – Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
WSIX – Nashville, Tenn.
WWKA – Orlando, Fla.
Medium market
KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
WBEE – Rochester, N.Y.
WIVK – Knoxville, Tenn.
WLFP – Memphis, Tenn.
WINNER: WUSY – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Small market
WCOW – La Crosse, Wis.
WKML – Fayetteville, N.C.
WKXC – Augusta, Ga.
WXFL – Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala.
WINNER: WYCT – Pensacola, Fla.
Paul Simon might be responsible for writing some of music’s most revered songs, but as he’s revealed previously, he’s progressively becoming unable to hear them.
Last year, Simon explained to British paper The Times that he began to experience hearing loss in his left ear while recording his 2023 song cycle, Seven Psalms. “Quite suddenly, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” he explained. “So everything became more difficult.”
Now in a new interview with CBS Mornings, Simon spoke to reporter Anthony Mason about his journey with hearing loss and his search for ways to manage it.
“It was incredibly frustrating. I was very angry at first that this had happened,” Simon admitted, noting his greatest fear is the possibility or no longer writing or composing. “I guess what I’m most apprehensive about would be if I can’t hear well enough to really enjoy the act of making music,” he added.
Though Simon wrapped up his final tour in 2018, he’s still making sporadic appearances here and there. Most recently, he performed a surprise set at New York City’s Irish Arts Centre, and weeks prior, he performed for The SoHo Sessions as part of a fundraiser for the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss
“I’m going through my repertoire and reducing a lot of the choices that I make to acoustic versions. It’s all much quieter,” he explained. “It’s not ‘You Can Call Me Al.’ That’s gone. I can’t do that one.”
As part of his CBS Mornings interview, Simon visited with the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss at their Palo Alto, California facilities, discussing how the likes of zebrafish, mice, and other animals are a point of focus for research. While zebrafish have had hearing benefits thanks to a drug which been approved by the FDA, mice are being used as part of gene therapy in an effort to regenerate damaged hair cells.
Per Simon’s own admission though, he tells CBS that his desire to create hasn’t been affected despite his ability to perfectly hear the fruits of his labor.
“You know Matisse, when he was suffering at the end of his life, when he was in bed, he envisioned all these cut-outs and had a great creative period,” he noted. “So I don’t think creativity stops with disability. So far, I haven’t experienced that. And I hope not to.”
