How has Shania Twain never won a Female Vocalist award?
With the 60th annual CMA Awards airing live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in just over a month on Wednesday, November 18th, the buzz surrounding the show keeps growing with each passing day. With Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves leading the way with the most nominations across the 12 major categories, Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson and Stephen Wilson Jr. are also among the night’s top-nominated artists.
Following the trend set by the past two CMA Awards, women absolutely dominate this year’s set of nominees. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Ella Langley is riding the highs of her record-shattering success with “Choosin’ Texas” to a staggering nine nominations. These nominations include her first-ever Entertainer of the Year nod, Album of the Year for Dandelion, Single and Song of the Year for both “Be Her” and “Choosin’ Texas,” Female Vocalist of the Year, Music Event of the Year (“I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Morgan Wallen) and Music Video of the Year (“Choosin’ Texas”).
Right behind her with seven is “Choosin’ Texas” co-writer and superstar, Miranda Lambert, who snagged seven nominations. These include her work on both Langley’s Dandelion and “Choosin’ Texas” as well as Female Vocalist of the Year, and two Musical Event of the Year nods for “A Song to Sing” with Chris Stapleton and “Horses and Divorces” with Kacey Musgraves.
Leading the charge for the men are the likes of Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson and Stephen Wilson Jr with four nominations. In particular, Wilson Jr. is primed to have a huge night. As a fan-favorite amongst many alt. country fans and us here at Whiskey Riff, the “I’m a Song” singer snagged four nods, including his first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year mention, New Artist of the Year and Song and Music Video of the Year for “Gary.”
And as the anticipation for this year’s awards continues to grow in the days leading up to the show, there’s bound to be a ton of discussions around which artists deserve to win each award, who continues to get robbed and everything in between.
Over the past week, we’ve taken a look at some major snubs throughout the years, ranging from artists who shockingly never took home a single CMA Award throughout incredibly successful years, massively popular acts who never won Entertainer of the Year and other artists who have brought home major wins without winning Male Vocalist of the Year.
Today, we’re looking at five of the biggest artists who never brought home Female Vocalist of the Year.
Shania Twain
Outside of the late, great Dolly Parton, one can argue that Shania Twain had the greatest peak in popularity of all time for a woman in country music. After bursting on the scene in 1993 with her self-titled debut albums, she would go on to secure three of the Top 10 highest-selling albums of all time with her following three records: The Woman In Me (12x Platinum), Come On Over (2x Diamond) and Up! (11x Platinum). Of course, these albums were propped up by smash hits such as “Any Man of Mine,” “You’re Still the One” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!.”
Despite the incredible amount of popularity in the ’90s and early 2000s, Twain was never shown a lot of love at the CMAs, surprisingly. Though she took home the biggest award of the night in 1999, Entertainer of the Year, that was her only win of her career. Even more surprisingly, she was only nominated for Female Vocalist twice, losing both times in 1996 and 1999, losing to Patty Loveless and Martina McBride, respectively
Years Nominated – 2
- 1996
- 1999
Rosanne Cash
Daughter of the Man in Black, Rosanne Cash, put together quite a successful career for herself, scoring a Grammy in 1985 for “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me” (and an additional 12 nominations), 11 #1 hits, three gold albums and more. Despite all the success, she was never able to secure a major award win at either the CMAs or ACMs.
What makes the CMA shutout so shocking is the fact that she was nominated a staggering 10 times from 1981 to 1989, scoring six separate Female Vocalist nominations and coming home empty-handed in the process.
Years Nominated – 6
- 1982
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- 1989
Deana Carter
Though Deana Carter never had the sustained commercial success compared to other artists on the list, there’s no doubt that she burst onto the scene with her debut album, Did I Shave My Legs for This?. The album, which is currently certified 5x Platinum, contains the first and only three #1 hits of her career, the ’90s staple that is “Strawberry Wine,” as well as “We Danced Anyway” and “How Do I Get There.”
Obviously, she didn’t experience much success in the genre after the initial rollout of her debut album. With that being said, you might have thought that she’d ride the success to at least one Female Vocalist win. As it turns out, she’d only receive one nomination in 1997, dropping it to Trisha Yearwood. She would, however, take home her first and only CMA for Single of the Year that night with “Strawberry Wine.”
Years Nominated – 1
- 1997
Sara Evans
Overshadowed in the 2000s a bit by the likes of Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert, there’s no denying Sara Evans was a pretty big star in the era. After breaking out with her junior album, Born to Fly, Evans would score massive hits with the title track, “Suds in the Bucket,” “A Real Fine Place to Start” and later with “A Little Bit Stronger.”
Though she secured Top Female Vocalist over at the ACM Awards, she failed to ever bring home the same honor at the CMAs. Being nominated six times throughout her career, she’d drop Female Vocalist of the Year to the likes of Lee Ann Womack, Martina McBride (twice), Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert.
Years Nominated – 6
- 2001
- 2002
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2011
Kelsea Ballerini
Though you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who says Kelsea Ballerini is a certified superstar in the genre, there is absolutely no denying how popular she’s been from a mainstream perspective over the past decade. Firmly planted in the pop-country scene, and you could even make the case that she’s more beloved in the pop scene entirely, Ballerini has cemented herself as an all-genre favorite, scoring an all-genre New Artist of the Year nod at the Grammys, along with an additional five nominations in various country categories.
There’s no doubt that the “Penthouse” singer has been a favorite at awards shows over the years. Despite this, she’s gone a staggering 0/8 in the Female Vocalist category over the past decade. Of course, this is primarily due to the dominance of the likes of Lambert, Underwood and Lainey Wilson recently, with Ballerini losing to Wilson three straight times the past three years.
Years Nominated – 8
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
