He’s the biggest artist in country music, and he only received two CMA Awards nominations, none of which are for solo awards.
This morning, the Country Music Association revealed the 2026 nominees, which finds Ella Langley as the most-nominated artist this year with nine nominations. Right behind her with seven is “Choosin’ Texas” co-writer and superstar, Miranda Lambert. Kacey Musgraves also made her grand return to the top of the nominations at the CMAs with five.
For the most coveted Entertainer of the Year category, we have Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson up for the award. Noticbly absent from that category, as well as pretty much all of the others, is Morgan Wallen. He received just two nominations for Music Event of the Year for both “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Ella Langley and “McArthur” with HARDY, Eric Church and Tim McGraw. He did not get any solo nods.
It’s not surprising, but it’s pretty wild considering Wallen fourth studio album, I’m the Problem, officially became the most popular album in the United States across all genres for the first half of 2026 (according to Luminate data reported by Billboard). It earned over 2.035 million equivalent album units during the tracking period, leading the charts for the second consecutive year. He also extended his lead as the highest-certified country artist in RIAA history, reaching a staggering 265.5 million certified units and became the first artist ever to simultaneously occupy the entire Top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
In addition, his 23-date North American stadium tour completely sold out, and it’s projected that the tour to will gross up to $500 million, putting it on pace to potentially be the top-grossing tour of 2026 across any musical genre. That’s just to name a few things… I get a lot of people don’t like him or his music, and that’s fine, but the numbers don’t lie, and once again, it takes away from the credibility of these kinds of award shows.
Last year, Morgan was nominated in the Entertainer of the Year category and he lost to Lainey Wilson, though he was absent and did not attend the show. He won Entertainer of the Year in 2024, and didn’t show up, and he never even really addressed the award or even acknowledged it, other than posting a picture of the trophy in a slideshow on Instagram.
And in 2025 after the loss, he made a surprise appearance with Ella Langley at the Ryman Auditorium when he took another shot at the CMA Awards, which take place just steps from the Ryman at Bridgestone Arena:
“It takes a lot more than an awards show to get me out to Broadway these days, I’ll tell you that.”
He then posted story seemingly taking aim at all the associations and snubs, and probably haters in general, sharing the post from Apple Music about his album being the most-listened-to project in 2025, saying:
“I like to let my fans do the talking.”
So yeah, there’s really no love lost between Morgan and the CMA Awards, so from that perspective, it’s not shocking the least bit that they left him mostly out of the nominations this year.
But of course, fans had a lot to say about it, and they flooded the comments section of the CMA Awards post about the Entertainer of the Year nominees in particular, upset that he had been snubbed from a category he very obviously should have been included in.
This is just a taste:
“This is a joke? How did you not nominate Morgan Wallen who just had the highest selling country tour of all time with over 500 million and back to back stadium shows… didn’t even nominate Megan either? She’s worked so hard this past tour too.”
“All incredible artists but to not have Morgan Wallen is laughable and shows that this is simply a popularity contest and who plays the CMA game better NOT a true representation of who is doing the best CMA do better.”
“Not that Morgan would care if he won or not, but not even nominating him after continuously selling out huge stadium tours is absolutely wild.”
“This is unreal! Morgan Wallen sells out huge stadiums and arenas. I don’t see his name in this category.”
“Morgan Wallen not being here is an obvious snub.. I love Ella but she has not reached entertainer of the year status yet.”
“This whole thing is a joke. The president of the Academy said it wasn’t a political thing or any of the sort.”
“How is Morgan Wallen being snubbed in every category? The same guy that sells out stadiums and breaks records yet he’s not nominated for anything.”
“Nothing against these other artists, but how on earth can you not put Morgan Wallen in this???”
“They’re missing Morgan Wallen and Megan Moroney!! This is unacceptable.”
“No Morgan and Megan is insane. Lainey didn’t even tour this year and Ella was a opener for morgan but ok.”
“Where’s Morgan Wallen ??? Doesn’t make sense.”
“HOW IS MORGAN WALLEN NOT ON HERE. RIGGED.”
“Why is this award show such a joke…”
“Where the heck is Morgan Wallen.”
“WHERE IS MORGAN??? IS THIS A JOKE???”
“How is Morgan Wallen not nominated? Numbers don’t lie!”
“Morgan Wallen is entertainer of the year hands-down.”
“Joke. Morgan dominates stadiums, charts, culture.”
“Morgan Wallen not being on this list is an incredible travesty.”
Again, if you’ve followed any of this drama at all, it’s not surprising to see Morgan get snubbed, but that doesn’t mean it makes the CMA Awards look good. I think I’ve said this before, but they need Morgan way more than he needs them, so I don’t expect him to lose one second of sleep over it.
Nominees
The 60th annual CMA Awards airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, November 18th on ABC, Disney+ and the next day on Hulu, and will be hosted by Lainey Wilson. You can see the full list of nominees below.
Entertainer of the Year
- Luke Combs
- Cody Johnson
- Ella Langley
- Chris Stapleton
- Lainey Wilson
Album of the Year
- Ain’t In It For My Health – Zach Top
- Dandelion – Ella Langley
- Middle of Nowhere – Kacey Musgraves
- Parker McCollum – Parker McCollum
- The Way I Am – Luke Combs
Song of the Year
- “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
- “Be Her” – Ella Langley
- “Beautiful Things” – Megan Moroney
- “Dry Spell” – Kacey Musgraves
- “Gary” – Stephen Wilson Jr.
Single of the Year
- “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
- “Be Her” – Ella Langley
- “I Knew It, I Knew You” – Taylor Swift
- “Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson
- “The Fall” – Cody Johnson
Male Vocalist of the Year
- Luke Combs
- Cody Johnson
- Chris Stapleton
- Zach Top
- Stephen Wilson Jr.
Female Vocalist of the Year
- Miranda Lambert
- Ella Langley
- Megan Moroney
- Kacey Musgraves
- Lainey Wilson
New Artist of the Year
- Avery Anna
- Carter Faith
- Emily Ann Roberts
- Tucker Wetmore
- Stephen Wilson Jr.
Vocal Duo of the Year
- Brooks & Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- Muscadine Bloodline
- Thelma & James
Vocal Group of the Year
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Midland
- Old Dominion
- The Red Clay Strays
Musical Event of the Year
- “A Song to Sing” – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton
- “Horses and Divorces” – Kacey Musgraves & Miranda Lambert
- “I Can’t Love You Anymore” – Ella Langley & Morgan Wallen
- “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” – Carly Pearce & Riley Green
- “McArthur” – Hardy, Eric Church, Morgan Wallen & Tim McGraw
Music Video of the Year
- “Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
- “Dry Spell” – Kacey Musgraves
- “Gary” – Stephen Wilson Jr.
- “The Fall” – Cody Johnson
- “White Horse” – Chris Stapleton
Musician of the Year
- Tom Bukovac – Guitar
- Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle
- Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
- Rob McNelley – Guitar
- Charlie Worsham – Guitar
