The 2025 CMA Awards celebrated the document nation music followers haven’t stopped listening to since its launch.
Lainey Wilson took house her first CMA Award of the night through the Wednesday, November 19, ceremony at Bridgestone Enviornment in Nashville, Tennessee, incomes Album of the Yr for her 2024 LP, Whirlwind.
“Mother and Daddy, look, test it out!” Wilson started. “I used to be completely not anticipating this.”
She went on to provide a shout-out to her followers earlier than thanking her label, band and nation radio. “I’ve the most effective followers on the earth,” she advised the gang. “They confirmed up each single night time singing each single phrase off of this document.”
The “Maintain My Halo” artist, who was additionally the ceremony’s host, added that she wrote Whirlwind whereas her life was “continually altering” as her fame rose. “I simply keep in mind being that little 11-year-old woman who would come house from faculty and decide up my guitar and pour my coronary heart and soul into that guitar, and that’s how I navigated and communicated,” she recalled. “And that’s precisely what I did these final two years of my life after I felt like my life was altering however I nonetheless felt precisely the identical.”
Different nominees within the Album of the Yr class included Megan Moroney’s Am I Okay?, Zach High’s Chilly Beer and Nation Music, Submit Malone’s F-1 Trillion and Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Downside.
Moroney, 28, and Wilson, 33, led the pack with six nominations every on the 2025 awards present. Along with Album of the Yr, Moroney was within the operating for Feminine Vocalist of the Yr, Single of the Yr, Track of the Yr and Music Video of the Yr for “Am I Okay?” and Musical Occasion of the Yr for “You Needed to Be There” with Kenny Chesney, whereas Wilson contended for Entertainer of the Yr, Feminine Vocalist of the Yr, Single of the Yr and Track of the Yr for “4x4xU” and Music Video of the Yr for “Someplace Over Laredo.” (Previous to the reside occasion, each artists misplaced Music Video of the Yr to Ella Langley and Riley Inexperienced’s “You Look Like You Love Me.”)
High, 28, racked up 5 CMA Awards nods, together with for Male Vocalist of the Yr, New Artist of the Yr and Single of the Yr and Track of the Yr for “I By no means Lie.”
For his half, Wallen, 32, earned nominations in three classes, together with Entertainer of the Yr and Male Vocalist of the Yr.
Though Malone, 30, trailed behind his Album of the Yr rivals with two complete nods, he was already a winner previous to the 2025 awards present, taking house Musical Occasion of the Yr for his and Blake Shelton’s track, “Pour Me a Drink,” earlier than the reside ceremony started.
Lainey Wilson. Jason Kempin/Getty Photographs
Of the 2025 contenders, Wilson was the one earlier Album of the Yr winner for Bell Backside Nation in 2023. The yr earlier than, her album Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ misplaced the class to Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up in 2022.
The 59th Annual Nation Music Affiliation Awards is gearing up for a memorable ceremony stuffed with music and extra memorable moments. The 2025 awards present, which airs on Wednesday, November 19, will probably be hosted by Lainey Wilson. “I grew up watching the CMA Awards prefer it was the Tremendous Bowl, so to be internet hosting for […]
As for Wallen, he was beforehand up for Album of the Yr twice. His Harmful: The Double Album fell to Chris Stapleton’s Beginning Over in 2021, and One Factor at a Time was defeated by Wilson’s Bell Backside Nation in 2023.
Moroney, High and Malone every earned their first Album of the Yr nominations in 2025.
Main as much as this yr’s ceremony, Wilson already had 9 CMA Awards on her shelf, Wallen had two and Moroney and Malone every had one. High, for his half, landed his first-ever profession nominations in 2025.
