Morgan Wallen Tops 2024 CMA Nominations; Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Snubbed

NEW YORK (AP) — Morgan Wallen leads the nominations for the 2024 Country Music Association awards, garnering a remarkable seven nods. This marks the third consecutive year he has been nominated for both the coveted entertainer of the year and male vocalist categories.

The competition in the entertainer of the year category includes notable artists such as Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton, and Lainey Wilson. Wallen’s nominations are largely driven by his collaboration on Post Malone’s chart-topping hit “I Had Some Help.” This song is nominated for categories including single, song, musical event, and music video of the year.

Additionally, Wallen received another nod in the musical event category for his collaboration with Eric Church on the track “Man Made a Bar.” It’s important to note that the single of the year recognizes the artist, producer, and mix engineers, whereas song of the year is awarded to the songwriters.

As anticipation built prior to the announcement of nominations, some fans speculated about the possibility of Beyoncé receiving a nomination. However, the iconic artist did not receive a nod despite her notable track “Cowboy Carter,” which was released within the eligibility window. Earlier in the year, her album reached No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to achieve this milestone since the chart’s inception in 1964.

The album was the result of five years of work, stemming from what Beyoncé described as an experience where she felt unwelcome, likely referring to backlash she experienced from a performance at the 2016 CMAs.

Nominations and voting for the CMA Awards are conducted by members of the Country Music Association. This includes a range of industry professionals, such as music executives, songwriters, artists, and publicists.

Following Wallen in the nominations tally are Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton, both of whom are also recognized in the male vocalist category for the third consecutive year. Each of these artists boasts five nominations.

However, Stapleton could potentially walk away with seven awards if he clinches victory in all his nominated categories. He is involved as both an artist and producer for two nominated tracks: “White Horse,” vying for single of the year, and “Higher,” competing for album of the year.

It’s noteworthy that the CMA Awards do not count production credits as separate nominations, though they do influence the overall trophy counts.

First-time nominee Post Malone and Lainey Wilson, who won the entertainer of the year award last year, are both tied with four nominations. All of Malone’s nods are attributed to “I Had Some Help.”

Producers Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, and Hoskins are recognized with three nominations for their collaborative work on this same hit track.

Furthermore, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Kacey Musgraves, and Megan Moroney each received three nominations as well. Combs, Musgraves, and Moroney’s nominations grant them the opportunity to secure four trophies—Combs is both an artist and producer for the album “Fathers & Sons,” which is nominated for album of the year, while Musgraves’ album “Deeper Well” shares a similar recognition. Meanwhile, Moroney is both artist and director of her nominated music video for “I’m Not Pretty.”

The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 20, 2024, airing at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC. Viewers will also have the opportunity to stream the event the following day on Hulu.