On September 30, 2024, the association announced that Lainey Wilson, would join fellow CMA award winner Luke Bryan and NFL superstar Peyton Manning as the pair would once again return as the hosts for the upcoming ceremony. Nominee eligibility ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.[2]Voting for the CMA Awards Final Ballot ends Tuesday, Oct. 29.
George Strait was announced as the recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award on November 12, 2024. A statement by the CMA chief executive officer Sarah Trahern read “There have been few other artists as authentically Texas and authentically country as George Strait, and country music fans all over the world have been better for it. As a three-time CMA entertainer of the year and the most nominated artist of all time, he serves as an inspiration and icon to many of the great, new artists we know today. I am thrilled we are awarding him with this deserving honor.”[3]
Winners and nominees
On August 28, CMA announced that the list of nominees will be released on, Monday, September 9.[4]Morgan Wallen leads in nominations with 7 nods.
Chris Stapleton wins his eight award and extends his record as the most decorated Male Vocalist of the Year.
Brooks & Dunn and Chris Stapleton became the most decorated CMA Awards artists of all time with nineteen each: Brooks & Dunn winning Vocal Duo of the Year and Chris Stapleton winning Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year.
Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood have their nomination streak ended after nearly two decades of being nominated in every ceremony since 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Aja Romano of Vox wrote that although there may be "logistical reasons" behind the snub, "the CMA has a noticeable pattern of erasing and sidelining Black women" and that "Beyoncé is actively aware of this gatekeeping, [...] It's hardly any wonder she distanced herself and her album from the country establishment from the start; she likely knew well before the rest of us that the CMAs were never going to let her in the door".[14] Highlighting that the first black woman to win an award at the CMAs was Tracy Chapman for Luke Combs' cover of "Fast Car" in 2023, Larisha Paul of Rolling Stone wrote that it "feels less like honorable accomplishments and more like bright red indicators of the sectors of the industry that are most resistant to change" and stating that "the institution has barely made an effort to recognize Black artists to begin, so at some point the snubs begin to register as expected rather than surprising".[15]
US nonprofit civil rights organization Color of Change president Rashad Robinson accused the ceremony to not recognized African Americans country musicians and the history of the genere, stating: "Recognizing Beyoncé at the CMAs would force everyone to confront a multitude of truths: the roots of country music in Black music, the history of racism in country music and the prospect of having to give up not only their white audiences but the part of their audience that can't stand to see Black excellence succeed in this country. It would also force them to confront the one enclave of culture they use as an escape from ever having to see Black people: their music".[16]
On September 17 in an interview with Variety, nine-time CMA award winner, country music legend, and Cowboy Carter collaborator, Dolly Parton spoke on Beyonce's apparent snub, "She's a country girl in Texas and Louisiana, so she grew up with that base. It wasn't like she just appeared out of nowhere [...] There's so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can't really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that [...] I think it was just more of what the country charts and the country artists were doing, that do that all the time, not just a specialty album."[17]
