On May 16, 2023, the Association announced that multiple CMA award winner Luke Bryan and NFL superstar Peyton Manning would once again return as the hosts for the upcoming ceremony. They also announced their balloting schedule for the 2023 ceremony, as well as the eligibility dates for the nominees, from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.[3]
Winners and nominees
Nominations were announced on September 7, 2023.[4]Lainey Wilson leads in nominations with nine, followed by Jelly Roll with five.[4]
Lainey Wilson becomes the first and only artist to top the nominations list in their first two appearances on the final list of nominees, having also lead the nominations at the previous ceremony. Wilson is the first new female artist to be nominated for Entertainer of the Year since Carrie Underwood received her first nomination in 2016. Wilson is also the first artist to have two nominations in the Single of the Year category in the same year since 2010, when Miranda Lambert's hits "White Liar" and "The House That Built Me" were both nominated.
Lainey Wilson now ties Merle Haggard and Miranda Lambert for the second most nominations in a single year with nine nominations. Alan Jackson holds the record with 10 in 2002.
This is the first time in CMA history that two women have been nominated for Entertainer of the Year in four consecutive years.
The War and Treaty became the first African-American duo to be nominated for Duo of the Year, and the first married couple nominated since Thompson Square in 2015. They are also the first mixed gender duo to be nominated since Sugarland in 2018.
Brooks & Dunn extend their lead for most nominations in the Duo of the Year category, with twenty four.
Jo Dee Messina receives her first nomination in over two decades. She was last nominated in 2002 for Vocal Event of the Year for her collaboration with Tim McGraw, “Bring On The Rain.”
