Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs,
Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett top this year’s star-studded list
with most nods
First major U.S. awards show to reveal nominations via Instagram Reels
New wave of country stars emerge with 10 first-time nominees
Vote now at: vote.cmt.com
NASHVILLE — CMT today unveiled the nominations for the “2020 CMT Music Awards,” airing on Wednesday, October 21st at 8PM ET/7PM CT on CMT with a six-network simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop TV and TV Land. Country music’s only entirely fan-voted awards show returns to celebrate music’s biggest stars and brings Nashville’s one-of-a-kind energy to music fans across the globe through epic outdoor performances in and around Music City. Each winner is selected by the fans, with voting open now at vote.cmt.com.
In a first for a major award show, select “2020 CMT Music Awards” nominations were revealed on Instagram Reels. See the announcement of “Video of the Year,” Female Video of the Year,” “Male Video of the Year,” “Breakthrough Video of the Year” categories here.
Country hitmakers Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett will all compete for the most accolades of the evening, each with 3 nominations spanning “Video of the Year,” “Female Video of the Year” and “Male Video of the Year.” Other artists with multiple nominations include Blanco Brown, Carrie Underwood, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion and The Chicks, who return with their first CMT nomination since 2007.
The “2020 CMT Music Awards” will spotlight a new generation of country music stars this year with all six “Breakthrough Video of the Year” nominees – Blanco Brown, Caylee Hammack, Gabby Barrett, Ingrid Andress, Riley Green and Travis Denning – receiving first-time nominations. Super group The Highwomen and the legendary Tanya Tucker are also receiving their first nods.
Well known for its tradition of embracing genre-bending collaborations across musical formats, the “2020 CMT Music Awards” also highlights a wide range of talent spanning the worlds of pop and dance/electronic with Halsey, Marshmello and Gwen Stefani receiving first-ever nominations.
The highly coveted “Video of the Year” award includes 14 acts, notably Carrie Underwood, who reigns as the most awarded artist in CMT Music Awards history with 20 wins. The finalists for “Video of the Year” will be announced on October 12; fans will be able to vote throughout the week until October 16 to determine the winner.
Fan voting begins today at vote.cmt.com and continues until 12PM ET/11 AM CT on Monday, October 12. The top five “Video of the Year” finalists will be revealed at that time.
The nominees for the “2020 CMT Music Awards” are:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced on 10/12, with final voting held until 10/16 and announced in-show.
- Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
- Blanco Brown – “The Git Up”
- Carrie Underwood – “Drinking Alone”
- Dan + Shay – “I Should Probably Go To Bed”
- Keith Urban – “Polaroid”
- Kelsea Ballerini – “homecoming queen?”
- Little Big Town – “Sugar Coat”
- Luke Combs – “Beer Never Broke My Heart”
- Miranda Lambert – “Bluebird”
- Old Dominion – “Some People Do”
- Sam Hunt – “Hard To Forget”
- Tanya Tucker – “Bring My Flowers Now”
- The Chicks -“Gaslighter”
- Thomas Rhett – “Remember You Young”
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist
- Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
- Carrie Underwood – “Drinking Alone”
- Gabby Barrett – “I Hope”
- Kelsea Ballerini – “homecoming queen?”
- Maren Morris – “The Bones”
- Miranda Lambert – “Bluebird”
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist
- Jason Aldean – “Got What I Got”
- Luke Bryan – “One Margarita”
- Luke Combs – “Even Though I’m Leaving”
- Morgan Wallen – “Chasin’ You (Dream Video)”
- Sam Hunt – “Hard To Forget”
- Thomas Rhett – “Remember You Young”
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a group; awarded to the artists
- Lady A – “Champagne Night”
- Little Big Town – “Wine, Beer, Whiskey”
- Midland – “Cheatin’ Songs (Live From the Palomino)”
- Old Dominion – “One Man Band”
- The Chicks – “Gaslighter”
- The Highwomen – “Crowded Table”
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists
- Brothers Osborne – “All Night (Studio Performance)”
- Dan + Shay – “I Should Probably Go To Bed”
- Florida Georgia Line – “Blessings”
- LOCASH – “One Big Country Song”
- Maddie & Tae – “Die From A Broken Heart”
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video from an artist’s major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist (male, female or group/duo)
- Blanco Brown – “The Git Up”
- Caylee Hammack – “Family Tree”
- Gabby Barrett – “I Hope”
- Ingrid Andress – “More Hearts Than Mine”
- Riley Green – “I Wish Grandpas Never Died”
- Travis Denning – “After a Few”
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video from a collaboration; awarded to the artists
- Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani – “Nobody But You”
- Carly Pearce and Lee Brice – “I Hope You’re Happy Now”
- Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber – “10,000 Hours”
- Kane Brown featuring Nelly – “Cool Again”
- Marshmello and Kane Brown – “One Thing Right”
- Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi – “Beer Can’t Fix”
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)
- From CMT Artists of the Year: Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
- From CMT Crossroads: Brooks & Dunn and Luke Combs – “Brand New Man”
- From CMT Artists of the Year: Chris Young – “Drowning”
- From CMT Crossroads: Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini – “Graveyard”
- From CMT Artists of the Year: Sam Hunt – “Fancy”
- From CMT Crossroads: Sheryl Crow and Chris Stapleton – “Tell Me When It’s Over”
“2020 CMT Music Awards” is executive produced by CMT’s Margaret Comeaux, Switched On Entertainment’s John Hamlin and Amy Lin Johnson; the Executives in Charge of Production are Jackie Barba and Heather D. Graffagnino.
For more information, visit CMT.com, follow @CMT on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, use hashtag #CMTawards and ‘like’ the CMT Music Awards on Facebook.