Final voting for the 60th Annual CMA Awards closes Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m. Central, according to the Country Music Association’s nominee announcement. Winners will air live on ABC and Disney+ on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. Eastern, 22 days after the ballot closes.
How CMA Awards Final Voting Works
The association said 7,083 voting-eligible Professional members determined the nominees, which it announced Sept. 10 in Nashville. The third and final ballot was emailed Thursday, Oct. 1, and the association said Deloitte tabulates all balloting. The voting window runs 26 days from the day the ballot went out to the day it closes, a calculation from the two dates in the release.
The release does not say how many members have returned final ballots or what share of the 7,083 are expected to vote. It also does not say whether the ballot is open to every Professional member or only to those who voted in earlier rounds. CMA chief executive Sarah Trahern said in the release that the awards have celebrated”excellence in Country Music” for six decades.
Ella Langley Leads the CMA Awards 2026 Nominations
Ella Langley leads all artists with nine nominations, the association said. Miranda Lambert follows with seven, and Kacey Musgraves and Ben West have five each. Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Stephen Wilson Jr. have four each, and Dave Clauss, Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson have three each.
The association’s nominee page shows where Langley’s nine fall. She is nominated for entertainer of the year, album of the year for “Dandelion,” female vocalist of the year, single of the year for both “Be Her” and “Choosin’ Texas,” song of the year for both of those songs, musical event of the year for “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Morgan Wallen and music video of the year for “Choosin’ Texas.” The page lists 12 categories, so she appears in seven of them, a count from the published list. Two of her nine come from placing two songs in both the single and song categories.
The entertainer of the year field has five nominees: Combs, Johnson, Langley, Stapleton and Wilson. Wilson is the reigning entertainer of the year and the 2026 host, according to the association’s dinner recap. Album of the year nominees are “Ain’t In It For My Health” by Zach Top, “Dandelion” by
Langley, “Middle of Nowhere” by Musgraves, “Parker McCollum” by Parker McCollum and “The Way I Am” by Combs. Single of the year includes Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You” along with the two Langley songs, Wilson’s “Somewhere Over Laredo” and Johnson’s “The Fall.”
First-Time Nominees in the 2026 CMA Awards Field
The association counted 13 first-time nominees: Smith Ahnquist, Avery Anna, Jack Antonoff, Tim Cofield, Carter Faith, Austin Goodloe, Muscadine Bloodline, Emily Ann Roberts, Caylee Robillard, Laura Sisk, Joybeth Taylor, Thelma & James and West. Two of the first-timers sit in the vocal duo category, where the nominee page lists Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Dan + Shay, Muscadine Bloodline and Thelma & James. Two of the five duo nominees therefore are new to the ballot. The new artist category lists Anna, Faith, Roberts, Tucker Wetmore and Stephen Wilson Jr.
Brooks & Dunn Receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
Brooks & Dunn are both nominees and honorees this year. The association announced Sept. 14 that the duo will receive the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during a tribute on the broadcast. Trahern called them in the announcement “the most awarded duo in our genre’s history.”
The association’s figures show 58 CMA nominations and 20 CMA wins for the pair, 16 of them for vocal duo of the year. That is a win rate of about 34% across all nominations and 80% of their wins in one category, both calculated from the association’s numbers. The duo also has 20 No. 1 hits, more than 60 charted singles, more than 30 million albums sold and more than 17 million concert tickets sold, according to the same announcement. They hosted the CMA Awards from 2004 to 2006.
The award honors an artist based on national and international prominence, concert performances, humanitarian efforts, philanthropy, streaming, record sales and public representation, the association said. It listed 10 earlier recipients: Willie Nelson in 2012, Kenny Rogers in 2013, Johnny Cash in 2015, Dolly Parton in 2016, Kris Kristofferson in 2019, Charley Pride in 2020, Loretta Lynn in 2021, Alan Jackson in 2022, George Strait in 2024 and Vince Gill in 2025.
Radio and International Honors Announced Before the Show
Winners of the 2026 CMA Broadcast Awards were announced Oct. 13, when reigning new artist of the year Zach Top called stations and personalities with the news, the association said. The honorees will be recognized at a pre-telecast ceremony Nov. 18. Winners include KSCS of DallasFort Worth, Texas, for major market radio station and WQDR of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, for large market station.
Among personalities, “The Highway Hot 30 Countdown with Buzz Brainard” on SiriusXM won weekly national and “Big D & Bubba” won daily national. Brittany Schaffer, the association’s incoming chief executive, said in the release that “Country radio is an important part of our ecosystem.”
The association also named its 2026 CMA International Awards honorees on Sept. 29. They include Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2 for international country broadcaster, James Johnston for global country artist and Wilson for international artist achievement. A reception for the honorees is set for Nov. 17 in Nashville.
Trahern’s Last Nominee Dinner and the CMA Leadership Change
The association held its nominee dinner Oct. 19 on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville, and said in a recap that it was Trahern’s final one before she retires. Wilson led a toast and said it takes “a village to raise a dream.” Attendees included members of Old Dominion, Dave Haywood of Lady A, Thelma & James, Emily Ann Roberts, Charlie Worsham and Jenee Fleenor. Trahern announced earlier this year that she would retire after 13 years leading the organization.
The association said in its July 8 announcement that Schaffer joined Sept. 8 as part of a transition plan and officially succeeds Trahern on Jan. 1, 2027. Schaffer was dean of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University and previously worked as an entertainment attorney at Loeb & Loeb LLP and as head of artist and label partnerships in Nashville at Spotify. CMA board chairman Jay Williams described her as a leader who understands “the responsibility of representing this industry.” Schaffer takes the title 44 days after the Nov. 18 broadcast, a calculation from the two dates.
When and Where to Watch the 60th Annual CMA Awards
The broadcast runs three hours, from 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern on ABC and Disney+ from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with streaming the next day on Hulu, the association said. Wilson hosts. The CMA Awards began in 1967, and the association describes them as the longest-running annual music awards program on network television.
