CMA Awards 2022: The Complete List of Winners, Including Entertainer of the Year Luke Combs and Double Honorees Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson
Luke Combs was anointed entertainer of the year for a second time at the 56th annual Country Music Association Awards Wednesday night, one of two trophies he picked up during the evening, along with album of the year.
“I want to thank country music for making my dreams come true,” Combs said at the end of the three-hour ABC telecast from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. As a kicker, he gave his seal of approval to the performing lineup: “This is my fifth or sixth year being at this awards show, and country sounded a lot more country than it has in a long time,” he noted.
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Scroll down to see all the winners, marked in bold amid the full list of nominees.
The double winners of the evening besides Combs were a pair of relative newcomers: Lainey Wilson, who won female artist of the year as well as best new artist, and Cody Johnson, who won single of the year and video of the year for “Til You Can’t.”
The leading nominee coming into the ceremony was Wilson, with six nods, after never having been up for a CMA before. Wilson’s big look not just going into but coming out of the CMAs will only be heightened in the very near future, as she is about to be seen in a recurring role on the television series “Yellowstone.”
Those awards all had a great deal of suspense to them. There was less of that for a handful of sure-thing repeats: Brothers Osborne winning vocal duo of the year for the fifth time, Old Dominion earning the vocal group award for a sixth time, and Chris Stapleton picking up male vocalist of the year, also for the sixth time.
Old Dominion lead singer Matthew Ramsey noted the death the day before of Jeff Cook of the veteran group Alabama, thinking of that band as he accepted an award for his own group. “There’s nobody in this category that would be here without Alabama,” he said, looking at his two bandmates and adding, “I couldn’t imagine losing one of you guys.”
The show opened with Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert forming a trio to salute the late Loretta Lynn with a medley of “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “You’re Looking at Country,” “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin'” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Jerry Lee Lewis got an homage from the combination of Elle King and the Black Keys. A forthcoming Rolling Stones all-star country tribute album was teased on the show with a rendition of “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Brothers Osborne and the War and Treaty — the latter duo getting what could be a star-making turn on the show.
Alan Jackson got his flowers while he’s still around to receive them with the last of the telecast’s big tributes. Prior to his receiving a lifetime achievement award, he was serenaded by Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi and Lainey Wilson singing some of his greatest hits, capped off by Jackson himself performing “Don’t Rock the Jukebox.” “I’ve definitely lived the American dream, and I’m still livin’ that honky tonk dream, y’all,” he exclaimed, hoisting his trophy.
Other strong and very country performances that Combs may have been referring to in his climactic speech included McBryde and friends covering “When Will I Be Loved,” a song that appears on her new album; Pearce singing the second Loretta Lynn tribute of the night, “Dear Miss Loretta,” an album track from her last record; and Kelsea Ballerini being joined by pals Pearce and Kelly Clarkson for a trio performance of “You’re Drunk, Go Home” from her latest record.
The artist who is undoubtedly the biggest star in the genre right now, as well as the most controversial, Morgan Wallen, was shut out in his two turns at bat (one of which was for entertainer of the year), after being barred from the ceremony last year. He was welcomed back this year to perform “You Proof,” one of a string of recent country radio smashes.
For the most dramatic performance of the evening, that might have been a tie. Wilson joined up with fellow new artist nominee Hardy for their new single, “Wait in the Car,” a domestic abuse melodrama that packed a powerful punch. But almost certainly the most lauded performance of the night had Stapleton being joined by revered veteran Patty Loveless for “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” a dour but riveting ballad about the coal mining life that had the audience at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena completely rapt with attention and admiration.
Scroll down beneath the winners to see clips of some of the top performances of the telecast. The full program will be available on Hulu starting Thursday.
The full list of nominees, with the winners’ names marked in bold:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer
“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley“Half of My Hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins
Mix Engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore“’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
“Growin’ Up” – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix Engineers: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews“Humble Quest” – Maren Morris
Producer: Greg Kurstin
Mix Engineer: Serban Ghenea“Palomino” – Miranda Lambert
Producers: Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Mikey Reaves
Mix Engineer: Jason Lehning“Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin'” – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineer: F. Reid Shippen“Time, Tequila & Therapy” – Old Dominion
Producers: Shane McAnally, Old Dominion
Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank
SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriters
“Buy Dirt”
Songwriters: Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins“Never Wanted to Be That Girl”
Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce“Sand in My Boots”
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Josh Osborne“Things a Man Oughta Know”
Songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson“You Should Probably Leave”
Songwriters: Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Chris Stapleton
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Lainey Wilson
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Eric Church
Luke Combs
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
Locash
Maddie & Tae
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Producer(s)
“Beers on Me” – Dierks Bentley with Breland & Hardy
Producers: Dierks Bentley, Ross Copperman“If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
Producer: Michael Knox“Longneck Way to Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
Producers: Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne“Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
Producer: Zach CrowellWINNER: “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle
Paul Franklin, Steel guitar
Brent Mason, Guitar
Ilya Toshinskiy, Banjo
Derek Wells, Guitar
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Directors
“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” – Taylor Swift (featuring Chris Stapleton)
Director: Blake Lively“Longneck Way to Go” – Midland (featuring Jon Pardi)
Director: Harper Smith“Never Say Never” – Cole Swindell (with Lainey Wilson)
Director: Michael Monaco“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Director: Alexa CampbellWINNER: “’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
Director: Dustin Haney
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Hardy
Walker Hayes
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum
Lainey Wilson
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