Everyone loves a good record… breaking records, physical records, we love them all.
With The CMA Awards right around the corner, we will be celebrating some of country music’s prized albums and singles from the past year, and with that comes the opportunity for records to be broken among the nominated artists. Whether it’s taking the crown for holding the most awards won in a specific category or being the first to beat out an existing record holder, country music has never looked more competitive within the genre.
Thanks to the folks at VegasInsider.com, we have an extensive list of what is up for grabs this year.
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn could take the crown for the most CMA Awards ever won. They are currently tied with Vince Gill for this honor, each having 18 trophies, but if the duo takes home Vocal Duo of the Year, they will have 19 to their name, pushing them over the top.
They could also extend their record for most wins of Vocal Duo of the Year. Currently holding 14 wins, if they take home the 2023 honors, they would have 15 wins in that category.
Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert could be breaking her own record if she wins Female Vocalist of the Year. Lambert is currently decorated as the female artist with the most CMA wins, having 14 awards to her name. Will it be 15 after next week’s award show? If Lambert does take it home, she will move into the list of the top five most-awarded artists in CMA history.
Lambert could also extend her record for most Female Vocalist of the Year wins. She holds the crown for taking home the award seven times, and next week, she could make it eight with her current nomination.
There is a reason she has been whoopin’ ass and taking names all of these years; she has been a heavy hitter since she stepped on the scene.
Relive her killer hits medley from last year’s show.
Lainey Wilson
Last year, Lainey Wilson left the audience jaw dropped when she took home both Female Artist of the Year and New Artist of the Year. Winning that pair of awards on the same night is nearly unheard of.
With nominations for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year, Wilson might be the first woman to win all four in one night. Vince Gill and Alan Jackson are the only other two artists in history to take home all four categories at the CMAs, with Jackson being the most recent in 2002 and Gill doing it in 1993.
From living in a camper when she first moved to Nashville to this possibility, Lainey Wilson has worked her tail off for moments like this.
Luke Combs
One of country music’s powerhouses could be breaking some records for consecutive wins. First for Entertainer of the Year — if Combs takes home the award, he will join Kenny Chesney and Alabama as the only artists that have been able to win three consecutive years in a row. Combs would stand with Chesney as the second solo artist to achieve this milestone.
Luke Comb’s album Gettin’ Old is also in the running to join an elite club. If he snags the honor, Combs will have been one of four others who have won Album of the Year three or more times. He would be joining Chris Stapleton and Johnny Cash with three wins, Ronnie Milsap, who has four wins to his name, and The King, George Strait, with five Album of the Year wins.
Combs was onto something last year when he said that country has never sounded more country than it ever has during last year’s awards.
Chris Stapleton
Last but not least, breaking some records is one of country music’s crowned jewels… Chris Stapleton.
Stapleton could start off by extending his currently-held record for Male Vocalist of the Year. Having taken home the honor six times thus far, this year could be his seventh.
Having a trend with the number seven, that is the number of times Stapleton has been nominated for Entertainer of the Year, being the artist with the most nominations in CMA history. While he has never had the pleasure of giving an acceptance speech for that award, that could change next week if he takes home the honors.
Given the press that Stapleton has had around the upcoming release of Higher and his incredible All-American Road Show tour, I think Stapleton stands a chance to bring home that Entertainer of the Year trophy finally.
His 2020 CMA performance of “Starting Over” lives rent-free in my head.
