Post Malone and Morgan Wallen are the flashiest nominees. But it was Chris Stapleton’s night early on at the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday.
The country traditionalist Stapleton, who has dominated the CMAs and most other country awards in recent years, won both single and song of the year for “White Horse,” scoring something of an upset in both categories over Malone and Wallen’s “I Had Some Help,” which led to Malone getting four nominations and helped Wallen get seven coming into the show.
Stapleton joined Malone to open the ceremony from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville with a performance of Malone’s “California Sober.”
The opening song functioned as a shout-out to what will be a celebration of a time of crossover and collaboration in country.
The ABC telecast, available on Hulu for streaming Thursday, will feature performances from artist combos throughout the night, including Shaboozey, Luke Combs and Eric Church; Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan; Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims; and Brooks & Dunn with Jelly Roll.
Shaboozey brought the crowd to its feet early on with a solo performance that began with a bit of his more sober single “Highway” before launching into one of the year’s defining hits, “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
But he lost out to Megan Moroney for best new artist, who won minutes after her own performance.
“Thank you Jesus for putting this dream on my heart,” Moroney, a 27-year-old from Georgia, said with misty eyes as she accepted the award.
“I Had Some Help” can still win musical event and music video of the year. Malone is among 31 first-time nominees in the running for awards.
Wallen’s nominations include the night’s top prize, entertainer of the year, where his competition consists of Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and last year’s winner Lainey Wilson. Like Malone, she is up for four awards and is co-hosting the show with Luke Bryan and NFL great Peyton Manning.
The CMA Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes music executives, artists, publicists, songwriters and other industry professionals.
Other big nominees include Stapleton and Cody Johnson, who got five apiece. But through the atypical math of the CMAs, Stapleton could go home with seven trophies if he wins the rest of his categories.
He took home two trophies for single of the year as both artist and producer on “White Horse,” and he will get two more for the same reason if his “Higher” wins album of the year. At the CMAs, production credits are not counted as separate nominations, although they are factored into trophy counts.
The evening will also have a multi-artist tribute to George Strait as he receives the association’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bryan called Strait “The King of Country Music” in the show opening.
