51st Annual Country Music Association Awards


The 51st Annual Country Music Association Awards, commonly known as the 51st CMA Awards, was held on November 8, 2017, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee and was hosted by CMA Award winners Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.
The nominations were announced on September 4, 2017, on Good Morning America by Lauren Alaina, Dustin Lynch, and Brothers Osborne.

Winners and nominees

Note: The winners are shown in Bold.
Entertainer of the YearAlbum of the Year

  • Garth Brooks
  • *Luke Bryan
  • *Eric Church
  • *Chris Stapleton
  • *Keith Urban
  • - Chris Stapleton
  • *The Breaker - Little Big Town
  • *Heart Break - Lady Antebellum
  • *The Nashville Sound - Jason Isbell
  • *The Weight of These Wings - Miranda Lambert
    • Male Vocalist of the YearFemale Vocalist of the Year
  • Chris Stapleton
  • *Dierks Bentley
  • * Eric Church
  • *Thomas Rhett
  • *Keith Urban
  • Miranda Lambert
  • *Kelsea Ballerini
  • *Reba McEntire
  • *Maren Morris
  • *Carrie Underwood
    • Vocal Group of the YearVocal Duo of the Year
  • Little Big Town
  • * Lady Antebellum
  • *Old Dominion
  • *Rascal Flatts
  • *Zac Brown Band
  • Brothers Osborne
  • *Dan + Shay
  • *Florida Georgia Line
  • *LoCash
  • *Maddie & Tae
    • Single of the YearSong of the Year
  • "Blue Ain't Your Color" - Keith Urban
  • * "Better Man" - Little Big Town
  • * "Body Like a Back Road" - Sam Hunt
  • * "Dirt on My Boots" - Jon Pardi
  • * "Tin Man" - Miranda Lambert
  • "Better Man" - Taylor Swift
  • * "Blue Ain't Your Color" - Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, Steven Lee Olsen
  • * "Body Like a Back Road" - Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
  • * "Dirt on My Boots" - Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley
  • * "Tin Man" - Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
    • New Artist of the YearMusician of the Year
  • Jon Pardi
  • *Lauren Alaina
  • *Luke Combs
  • * Old Dominion
  • *Brett Young
  • Mac McAnally
  • *Jerry Douglas
  • *Paul Franklin
  • *Dann Huff
  • *Derek Wells
    • Music Video of the YearMusical Event of the Year
  • Brothers Osborne - "It Ain't My Fault"
  • * Little Big Town - "Better Man"
  • * Keith Urban - "Blue Ain't Your Color"
  • * Thomas Rhett ft Maren Morris - "Craving You"
  • * Miranda Lambert - "Vice"
  • Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell - "Funny How Time Slips Away"
  • * Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris - "Craving You"
  • * Eric Church and Rhiannon Giddens - "Kill a Word"
  • *Kenny Chesney and P!nk - "Setting the World on Fire"
  • * Tim McGraw and Faith Hill - "Speak to a Girl"

    • Special Recognition Awards

    The CMA Special Recognition Award recipients were announced on 4 April 2017.
    AwardRecipient
    International Country Broadcaster AwardBob Harris
    Jo Walker-Meador International AwardRob Potts
    Jeff Walker Global Country Artist AwardThe Shires
    International Artist Achievement AwardCarrie Underwood
    Wesley Rose International Media Achievement AwardRichard Wootton

    Performers

    PerformerSong
    Eric Church
    Lady Antebellum
    Darius Rucker
    Keith Urban
    Brooks & Dunn
    Reba McEntire
    Little Big Town
    Thomas Rhett
    Garth Brooks.
    Luke Bryan
    Kelsea Ballerini
    Tim McGraw
    Faith Hill    		"Amazing Grace"
    "Hold My Hand"
    Thomas Rhett"Unforgettable"
    Dierks Bentley
    Rascal Flatts
    Eddie Montgomery    		Tribute to Troy Gentry
    "My Town"
    Kelsea Ballerini
    Reba McEntire    		"Legends"
    Luke Bryan"Light It Up"
    Miranda Lambert"To Learn Her"
    Garth Brooks"Ask Me How I Know"
    Brothers OsborneTribute to Don Williams
    "It Ain't My Fault"
    "Tulsa Time"
    Tim McGraw
    Faith Hill    		"The Rest of Our Life"
    P!nk"Barbies"
    Old Dominion"No Such Thing as a Broken Heart"
    Little Big Town
    Jimmy Webb    		Tribute to Glen Campbell
    "Wichita Lineman"
    Chris Stapleton"Broken Halos"
    Maren Morris
    Niall Horan    		"I Could Use a Love Song"
    "Seeing Blind"
    Carrie Underwood"Softly and Tenderly"
    Brad Paisley
    Kane Brown    		"Heaven South"
    Jon Pardi"Dirt on My Boots"
    Dan + Shay
    Lauren Alaina    		"Get Together"
    Keith Urban"Female"
    Eric Church
    Joanna Cotten
    The McCrary Sisters    		"Chattanooga Lucy"
    Alan Jackson"Chasin' That Neon Rainbow"
    "Don't Rock The Jukebox"

    Presenters

    Critical Reception

    The 51st Annual CMA Awards received 14.29 million viewers, the highest ratings since 2014 and the 58 victims of the Las Vegas shooting. In addition, ET called Underwood's performance "beautiful" and "gorgeous," mentioning a statement made by Paisley at the opening of the show about coming together in the face of tragedy.
    Garth Brooks, who won the prestigious Entertainer of the Year award, was heavily criticized for lip-syncing during his performance. Of his decision, Brooks stated that "we made a game-time call on whether to sing to a track or lip-sync and we decided to lip-sync it. My voice just isn't going anywhere, and we wanted to represent country music as best we can."