The viral hit of the year.
The televised part of the 58th Annual CMA Awards show is tonight at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and will be hosted by Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning.
But they always announce at least a few of the “smaller” awards ahead of time, and a few minutes ago, it was announced that Ella Langley and Riley Green won the CMA award for Musical Event of the Year for their viral hit ” “You Look Like You Love Me,” which was included on Ella’s debut album Hungover.
In terms of the actual song, Ella wrote most of it with Aaron Ratiere, while Riley came up with the words for his second verse, and it has been incredibly popular online this year, especially on TikTok. I mean, you still can’t even get on Instagram or TikTok and scroll very far without hearing part of the song and in today’s music world, that actually means a lot.
The cool, sort of vintage and throwback sound is thanks to the multiple speaking parts that are very much Johnny Cash-style, which has clearly resonated, and lyrically, it’s fun to hear Ella walking up to a cute cowboy at the bar making the first move in a bit of a role reversal from the typical country song.
The other nominees for Musical Event of the Year included Kelsea Ballerini (with Noah Kahan) for “Cowboys Cry Too,” Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen) for “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen), Zach Bryan (ft. Kacey Musgraves) “I Remember Everything,” Morgan Wallen (feat. Eric Church) for “Man Made a Bar,”and the award goes to both artists and producers.
While almost all of those songs were massive, crossover hits, I think Ella and Riley are incredibly deserving and it’s really exciting to see such a great song win the big awards.
A huge congratulations to both of them, you love to see it:
Cue the confetti! 🎉 Just announced on the red carpet – the #CMAawards Musical Event of the Year is “you look like you love me” @EllaLangleyMsic (feat. @RileyGreenMusic) 🎶💖 pic.twitter.com/dEOtzlp4WQ
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 20, 2024
The show airs tonight at 8PM EST on ABC.
“you look like you love me”
The Nominees:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
• Luke Combs
• Jelly Roll
• Chris Stapleton
• Morgan Wallen
• Lainey Wilson
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
• “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey
Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry
Mix Engineer: Raul Lopez
• “Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
• “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen)
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore
• “Watermelon Moonshine” – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
• “White Horse” – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist, Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s)
• “Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves
Producers: Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Tashian
Mix Engineers: Shawn Everett, Konrad Snyder
• “Fathers & Sons” – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix Engineer: Chip Matthews
• “Higher” – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton
Mix Engineer: Vance Powell
• “Leather” – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Mix Engineer: Jack Clarke
• “Whitsitt Chapel” – Jelly Roll
Producers: Andrew Baylis, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Jesse Frasure, David Garcia, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft, Austin Nivarel, David Ray Stevens
Mix Engineers: Jeff Braun, Jim Cooley
SONG OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Songwriter(s)
• “Burn It Down”
Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Parker McCollum, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
• “Dirt Cheap”
Songwriter: Josh Phillips
• “I Had Some Help”
Songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters
• “The Painter”
Songwriters: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins
• “White Horse”
Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Dan Wilson
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
• Megan Moroney
• Shaboozey
• Nate Smith
• Mitchell Tenpenny
• Zach Top
• Bailey Zimmerman
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Kelsea Ballerini
• Ashley McBryde
• Megan Moroney
• Kacey Musgraves
• Lainey Wilson
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Luke Combs
• Jelly Roll
• Cody Johnson
• Chris Stapleton
• Morgan Wallen
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
• Lady A
• Little Big Town
• Old Dominion
• The Red Clay Strays
• Zac Brown Band
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
• Brooks & Dunn
• Brothers Osborne
• Dan + Shay
• Maddie & Tae
• The War and Treaty
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artists and Producer(s)
• “Cowboys Cry Too” – Kelsea Ballerini (with Noah Kahan)
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym
• “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen)
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
• “I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan (ft. Kacey Musgraves)
Producer: Zach Bryan
• “Man Made a Bar” – Morgan Wallen (feat. Eric Church)
Producer: Joey Moi
• “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley (feat. Riley Green)
Producer: Will Bundy
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
• Tom Bukovac – Guitar
• Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle
• Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
• Rob McNelley – Guitar
• Charlie Worsham – Guitar
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Award goes to Artist(s) and Director(s)
• “Dirt Cheap” – Cody Johnson
Director: Dustin Haney
• “I Had Some Help” – Post Malone (Feat. Morgan Wallen)
Director: Chris Villa
• “I’m Not Pretty” – Megan Moroney
Directors: Jeff Johnson, Megan Moroney
• “The Painter” – Cody Johnson
Director: Dustin Haney
• “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” – Lainey Wilson
Director: Patrick Tracy
