2025 CMA Awards Nominations: Snubs & Surprises

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Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, Riley Green and much marque our database of the unexpected results from this year's nominations.

9/8/2025

Jelly Roll performs onstage astatine Country Thunder Wisconsin connected July 19, 2025 successful Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. (Photo by Joshua Applegate/Getty Images)

The last nominees for the 59th annual CMA Awards were revealed Monday (Sept. 8), and this year’s nominations highlighted the interaction a fig of newcomers person had connected the genre implicit the past respective months.

Megan Moroney, Ella Langley and Zach Top, each of whom person travel into prominence implicit the past 2 years, are among the apical nominees. Moroney and Langley tied with Lainey Wilson, who lone received her archetypal information 3 years ago, for artists with the astir nominations with six, portion Top leads each males with 5 nods.

Up for the night’s biggest prize, entertainer of the year, are past year’s winner, Morgan Wallen, and 3 of his chap 2024 nominees Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and Wilson. Rounding retired the class is Cody Johnson, who receives his archetypal motion successful the category.

The awards are voted connected by the CMA’s nonrecreational members, which fig much than 7,100. Eligibility play was July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. According to CMA rules, “singles, albums, euphony videos and qualified euphony products for the yearly amusement indispensable person been released oregon reached highest nationalist prominence during the eligibility period.” The “reached highest nationalist prominence” caveat is cardinal since it allows immoderate leeway successful presumption of nominations. For example, Langley and Riley Green’s “you look similar you emotion me” won past twelvemonth for philharmonic lawsuit of the year, but snags respective much nods this twelvemonth including for azygous and opus of the year, arsenic the tune grew adjacent much fashionable aft past year’s eligibility chopped off.

The 59th yearly CMA Awards volition broadcast unrecorded from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena connected Wednesday, Nov. 19 (8:00–11:00 p.m. ET) connected ABC and adjacent time connected Hulu.

Below, we look astatine immoderate of the largest snubs and surprises from Monday’s nominations.

SURPRISE: Ella Langley, Megan Moroney and Lainey Wilson

Three women are tied for the astir nominations, with Ella Langley, Lainey Wilson and Megan Moroney each receiving six. A pistillate has surely led each nominations before– Wilson received the astir successful some 2023 and 2022 — but determination has ne'er been a clip erstwhile three solo women shared the apical spot. Not coincidentally, these 3 highly talented artists are the women receiving the astir airplay astatine terrestrial vigor close now. Each has existent hits successful the apical fractional of the chart. They volition look disconnected successful a fig of categories, including single, song, pistillate vocalist and euphony video of the year.
SNUB: Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll has lone seen his popularity emergence since helium archetypal received 5 nominations successful 2023 (and won champion caller artist). He was among lone a fistful of artists who had ever gone from receiving a caller creator nom 1 twelvemonth to an&nb...

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