Hours ahead of the 2023 CMA Awards, Hardy and Lainey Wilson have been announced as this year’s first winners.
The 57th annual ceremony will kick off on Wednesday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, with some of the biggest names in country music expected to come out and celebrate the best of the genre.
But earlier, on ABC’s Good Morning America, Hardy and Wilson were awarded trophies for CMA Musical Event of the Year and CMA Music Video of the Year their collaboration, “wait in the truck.”
Good Morning America host Lara Spencer shared the news live from downtown Nashville, as CMA Awards hosts Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning offered a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of what’s to come in tonight’s show.
Heading into the CMA Awards, Wilson led the pack when it came to total nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year and Song of the Year for her song, “Heart Like A Truck,” as well as Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country — among others.
This year also featured several first-time nominees including Jelly Roll, Kane Brown‘s wife, Katelyn Brown, and Tracy Chapman — whose 1988 song “Fast Car” gained fame all over again as it was covered by Luke Combs. “Fast Car” — for which Chapman is the sole writer — is up for both Single of the Year and Song of the Year.
So who won big and who went home empty handed on Wednesday? Keep checking back with ET for the full list of winners — marked in bold — below:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
“Fast Car” – Luke Combs
“Heart Like A Truck” – Lainey Wilson
“Need A Favor” – Jelly Roll
“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis
“wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde
Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson
Gettin’ Old – Luke Combs
One Thing At A Time – Morgan Wallen
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini
SONG OF THE YEAR
“Fast Car” – Songwriter: Tracy Chapman
“Heart Like A Truck” – Songwriters: Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson
“Next Thing You Know” – Songwriters: Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne
“Tennessee Orange” – Songwriters: David Fanning, Paul Jenkins, Megan Moroney, Ben Williams
“wait in the truck” – Songwriters: Renee Blair, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Jelly Roll
Cody Johnson
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War And Treaty
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
“Save Me” – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)
“She Had Me At Heads Carolina (Remix)” – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina
“Thank God” – Kane Brown (with Katelyn Brown)
“wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)
“We Don’t Fight Anymore” – Carly Pearce (featuring Chris Stapleton)
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jenee Fleenor
Paul Franklin
Rob McNelley
Derek Wells
Charlie Worsham
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Light On In The Kitchen” – Ashley McBryde/Director: Reid Long
“Memory Lane” – Old Dominion/Directors: Mason Allen, Nicki Fletcher
“Need A Favor” – Jelly Roll/Director: Patrick Tohill
“Next Thing You Know” – Jordan Davis/Director: Running Bear
“wait in the truck” – HARDY (feat. Lainey Wilson)/Director: Justin Clough
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Zach Bryan
Jelly Roll
Parker McCollum
Megan Moroney
Hailey Whitters
2023 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS – FINALISTS FOR BROADCAST PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR (by market size):
Weekly National
“American Country Countdown” (Kix Brooks) – Cumulus/Westwood One
“Country Countdown USA” (Lon Helton) – Compass Media Networks
“Honky Tonkin’ with Tracy Lawrence” (Tracy Lawrence and Patrick Thomas) – Silverfish Media
“On The Horizon with Buzz Brainard” (Buzz Brainard) – SiriusXM
“Y’all Access with Kelly Sutton” (Kelly Sutton) – Firefly Media/Silverfish Media
Daily National
“Angie Ward” – iHeartMedia
“The Big D and Bubba Show” (Derek “Big D” Haskins, Sean “Bubba” Powell, Patrick Thomas, and Carsen Humphreville) – Silverfish Media
“Katie & Company” (Katie Neal) – Audacy
“Nights with Elaina” (Elaina Smith) – Westwood One
“The Sam Alex Show” (Sam Alex) – Sam Alex Productions, LLC
Major Market
“Chris Carr & Company” (Chris Carr, Kia Becht, and Sam Sansevere) – KEEY, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
“Frito & Katy” (Tucker “Frito” Young and Katy Dempsey) – KCYY, San Antonio, Texas
“Hawkeye in the Morning with Hawkeye and Michelle” (“Hawkeye” Mark Louis Rybczyk and Michelle Rodriguez) – KSCS, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
“Josh, Rachael & Grunwald” (Josh Holleman, Rachael Hunter, and Steve Grunwald) – WYCD, Detroit, Mich.
“Scotty Kay” (Scotty Kay) – WUSN, Chicago, Ill.
Large Market
“The Big Dave Show” (“Big Dave” Chandler, Ashley Heiert, and Jason “Stattman” Statt) – WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio
“The Morning Drive with Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews” (Mike Kellar and Jenny Matthews) – KBEQ, Kansas City, Mo.
“Scott and Shannen” (Scott Dolphin and “Shannen O” Oesterreich) – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
“Tim & Chelsea In The Morning” (Tim Leary and Chelsea Taylor) – WIRK, West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
“The Wayne D Show” (“Wayne D” Danielson and Tay Hamilton) – WSIX, Nashville, Tenn.
Medium Market
“Cait & Bradley Morning Show” (Cait Fisher and Matt Bradley) – KWEN, Tulsa, Okla.
“Clay & Company” (Clay Moden, Rob Banks, and Kadie Daye) – WYRK, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
“Ellis and Bradley Show” (Bill Ellis and Beth Bradley) – WSSL, Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
“Mo & StyckMan” (Melissa “Mo” Wagner and Greg “StyckMan” Owens) – WUSY, Chattanooga, Tenn.
“Steve & Gina In The Morning” (Steve Lundy and Gina Melton) – KXKT, Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Small Market
“The B100 Morning Show with Brittney Baily” (Brittney Baily) – WBYT, South Bend, Ind.
“The Eddie Foxx Show” (Eddie Foxx and Amanda Foxx) – WKSF, Asheville, N.C.
“Officer Don & DeAnn” (“Officer Don” Evans and DeAnn Stephens) – WBUL, Lexington-Fayette, Ky.
“Steve & Tiffany in the Morning” (Steve Waters and Tiffany Kay) – WFLS, Fredericksburg, Va.
“Steve, Ben and Nikki” (Steve Stroud, Ben Walker, and Nikki Thomas) – WXBQ, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
2023 CMA BROADCAST AWARDS – FINALISTS FOR RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR (by market size):
Major Market
KCYY – San Antonio, Texas
KEEY – Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn.
KKBQ – Houston, Texas
KSCS – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
WXTU – Philadelphia, Pa.
Large Market
WIRK – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
WKDF – Nashville, Tenn.
WMIL – Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.
WUBE – Cincinnati, Ohio
WWKA – Orlando, Fla.
Medium Market
KUZZ – Bakersfield, Calif.
KXKT – Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
WGGY – Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.
WPCV – Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
WQMX – Akron, Ohio
Small Market
KCLR – Columbia, Mo.
WBYT – South Bend, Ind.
WKML – Fayetteville, N.C.
WXBQ – Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
WYCT – Pensacola, Fla.
The 2023 CMA Awards, hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, airs live on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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