Can this year’s Country Music Association Awards do for Maren Morris what last year’s awards did for Chris Stapleton?
Morris, the 26-year-old breakout artist from Texas, tied longtime singer/songwriter Stapleton and the unstoppable Eric Church for five nods each on Wednesday morning, when the CMAs (country music’s most prestigious awards show) unveiled its nominations on Good Morning America.
Stapleton, as country fans know, had a career-changing night at the 2015 CMAs, as the industry favorite stunned everyone by beating out more mainstream acts in picking up three awards — and then performed a duet with Justin Timberlake that went viral and helped send Stapleton’s music sales soaring. While a repeat of that is a tall order, Morris has a real shot to make an impact, with her hit debut single, the soulful My Church, nominated for single and record of the year. The Top 10 hit is from her also-nominated album, Hero.
Though viewers should expect big things from Stapleton again, as he’s nominated for the coveted entertainer of the year prize. He goes up against Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, who, after a decade of co-hosting the CMAs with Brad Paisley, was finally recognized in its biggest category for the first time.
Though Church was left out of that race, he’s up for male vocalist, along with single, song and music video noms for his emotional track Record Year. Not to mention an album of the year nod for Mr. Misunderstood, which made a surprise drop just before last year’s CMAs and was totally overshadowed by Stapleton.
Meanwhile, stars including Underwood, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley weren’t far behind the nomination leaders, each picking up four nods. McGraw had a smash this year with the Lori McKenna-penned Humble and Kind, a quiet ballad that stood out among the many party songs on the radio and was nominated for single, song and music video.
Underwood landed an album nomination for Storyteller, competing against Morris, Church, Bentley (Black) and Urban (Ripcord). She’s also in the female vocalist category with Morris, six-year consecutive winner Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Kelsea Ballerini.
That’s the lone nomination for Lambert, usually an award show mainstay, but she’s had a quiet music year, save for a new single that isn’t eligible for voting. And superstars including Blake Shelton and Jason Aldean — not to mention rising star Sam Hunt — were left off the ballot completely.
The CMAs air Wednesday, Nov. 2, on ABC.