<\/p>\n
\n\tSome artists didn\u2019t just win at the 59th annual CMA Awards, which were held on Wednesday (Nov. 19) at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. They made history.<\/p>\n
\n\tOf course, acts have been making history at the CMA Awards for years.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1971, Charley Pride became the first (and is still the only) Black artist to win entertainer of the year. The following year, Loretta Lynn became the first woman to win the award.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2016, Garth Brooks became the first person to win entertainer of the year five times. He won two more times before he graciously removed himself from further consideration for the award.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2014, Miranda Lambert became the first woman to win female vocalist of the year five times. In 2022, Chris Stapleton became the first man to win male vocalist of the year six times. (Both artists have since added more wins to their tallies.)<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1984, The Statler Brothers became the first group to win vocal group of the year nine times. (That\u2019s still the record in that category.) In 1999, Brooks & Dunn became the first duo to win vocal duo of the year eight times. They are still the leaders in that category, though their win tally in the category currently stands at 16.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2008, with Troubadour, George Strait became the first artist to win album of the year five times. In 2024, with \u201cWhite Horse,\u201d Stapleton became the first artist to win single of the year three times. Both of these records still stand.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s enough looking back. Here are six artists who made CMA history this year.<\/p>\n
\n\tWilson won entertainer of the year for the second time in three years. She\u2019s just the third woman to win entertainer of the year twice. She follows Barbara Mandrell (1980 and 1981) and Taylor Swift (2009 and 2011).<\/p>\n
\n\tWilson also hosted the show, having co-hosted last year with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning. Wilson is the first person to win entertainer of the year in the same year that he or she hosted or co-hosted since Brad Paisley in 2010. Two other people have done this in CMA history \u2013 Barbara Mandrell in 1980 and 1981 and Vince Gill in 1993 and 1994.<\/p>\n
\n\tWilson also won album of the year for the second time with Whirlwind. She won two years ago for Bell Bottom Country. She is just the second woman to win twice in the category. Miranda Lambert won in 2010 with Revolution and in 2014 with Platinum.<\/p>\n
\n\tWilson won female vocalist of the year for the fourth year in a row. She\u2019s just the third artist to win that award four or more years running. Reba McEntire was the first, winning from 1984-87. Miranda Lambert won six years in a row, from 2010-15. (Martina McBride won four times, but not consecutively. Carrie Underwood won five times but didn\u2019t put together four straight wins.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tBrooks & Dunn won vocal duo of the year for the 16th time, which extended their lead as the top winner in the history of the category. But they achieved something even more momentous \u2013 they brought their win tally at the CMA Awards to 20, which is more than any other artist in the show\u2019s history. They had been tied with Chris Stapleton with 19 awards, but Stapleton didn\u2019t win an award this year.<\/p>\n
\n\tBrooks & Dunn\u2019s four awards outside of the vocal duo of the year category are album of the year for the multi-artist collection Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles in 1994; entertainer of the year in 1996; and single of the year and music video of the year in 2006 for \u201cBelieve.\u201d Ronnie Dunn also shared the award for song of the year for \u201cBelieve\u201d with his co-writer Craig Wiseman, so he has one more trophy than his longtime musical partner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
\n\tLangley and Riley Green won single of the year, song of the year and music video of the year for \u201cyou look like you love me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cyou look like you love me\u201d is the first collab by two solo artists to win single of the year since Waylon & Willie\u2019s \u201cGood Hearted Woman\u201d in 1976 \u2013 before Langley and Green were even born. One other collab has won single of the year, but it wasn\u2019t a pairing of two solo artists. \u201cI Hope You Dance\u201d by Lee Ann Womack featuring Sons of the Desert won in 2000.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn addition, Langley became the first artist to win music video of the year for a clip that he or she directed or co-directed. Langley co-directed the \u201cyou look like you love me\u201d video with John Park and Wales Toney.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cyou look like you love me\u201d won musical event of the year at last year\u2019s show. That confusing split is due to different guidelines in different categories. The song was released as a promotional single on June 21, 2024, nine days before the last day of the previous eligibility year. That was enough for it to be eligible for musical event of the year last year, where the published CMA rules<\/a> are pretty basic: \u201cThe song must have been initially released during the eligibility period.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe rules for single of the year are much more specific. It met these set of criteria during the current eligibility period: \u201cThe single must have reached the Top 10 of\u00a0Billboard\u2019s\u00a0Country Airplay Chart,\u00a0Billboard\u2019s\u00a0Hot Country Songs Chart, or\u00a0Country Aircheck\u00a0Chart for the first time during the eligibility period.\u00a0 If the single charted in the Top 10 on the above charts and was released prior to the eligibility period but achieved its highest chart position during the eligibility period, it is eligible unless it has previously appeared on a Final Ballot in this category.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tStill confused? Just be glad a good song, record and video is the beneficiary of these complicated rules.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \n\tThe\u00a0country rock\u00a0band won vocal group of the year, ending Old Dominion\u2019s seven-year consecutive win streak in this category. Other spoilers in CMA history include Montgomery Gentry, which in 2000 snapped an eight-year consecutive win streak by Brooks & Dunn for vocal duo of the year. Brooks & Dunn returned to their winning ways the following year, kicking off a six consecutive win run.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Red Clay Strays\u2019 CMA win comes just 14 months after they won emerging act of the year at the 2024 Americana Music Honors & Awards. The Alabama group won best new duo\/group of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May but lost the group of the year award to Old Dominion. Their stock has risen in the past six months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n \n\tPost Malone won musical event of the year for \u201cBuy Me a Drink,\u201d featuring Blake Shelton. Posty is the first artist who is best known for work outside of country music to win in that category since Lil Nas X won in 2019 for \u201cOld Town Road,\u201d featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. Other artists who were best known at the time outside of country music circles to win in this category include Linda Ronstadt (Trio with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris in 1987), Jimmy Buffett (\u201cIt\u2019s Five O\u2019Clock Somewhere\u201d with Alan Jackson in 2003), Robert Plant (\u201cGone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)\u201d with Allison Krauss in 2008), Kelly Clarkson (\u201cDon\u2019t You Wanna Stay\u201d with Jason Aldean in 2011) and Elle King (\u201cDifferent for Girls\u201d with Dierks Bentley in 2016).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\nThe Red Clay Strays<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Post Malone<\/strong><\/h2>\n