T
HE NOMINATIONS FOR
the 53rd annual Country
Music Association (CMA)
Awards include both veter-
ans who dominate the field
and rising stars moving the
genre forward. Maren Morris leads
this year’s slate with six nominations,
while nine other acts received three
or more nods, including Blake Shel-
ton, Dierks Bentley and the hottest
breakthrough artist in recent years,
Luke Combs, who took home new
artist of the year in 2018. Brothers
Osborne are the top duo or group
with four nominations, while Dan +
Shay scored three, including album
and single of the year. In addition, a
trio of producers — Scott Hendricks, S
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EPHENL
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EKIN/SH
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KDann Huff and Greg Kurstin — each
received three nods this year. Follow-
ing are 2019’s standouts.
MAREN MORRIS
GIRL
Six nominations including album,
single, song of the year
Morris is the only act to earn six nom-
inations, including single, song and
album of the year. The “My Church”
singer is just the second female vocal-
ist (following Miranda Lambert) to
sweep the top three categories more
than once. GIRL, Morris’ sophomore
major-label effort, entered Billboard’s
Top Country Albums chart at No. 1 in
March. Morris (who took home new
artist of the year in 2015) also earned
nods for musical event, music video
and female vocalist of the year (for the
fourth consecutive time).
BROTHERS OSBORNE
Port Saint Joe
Four nominations including vocal
duo, single of the year
T.J. and John Osborne’s 2018 sopho-
more album, named after the coastal
Florida town where it was recorded,
peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top
Country Albums chart last year. Port
Saint Joe record earned them four
nominations, including vocal duo
(for the fifth consecutive time) and
musical event of the year (for “All My
Favorite People,” featuring Morris).
The brothers received two additional
nods for “Burning Man,” their 2018
collaboration with Bentley, which
won last year’s musical event honor.
The hit now will compete for single
and music video of the year.
DIERKS BENTLEY
The Mountain
Three nominations including single,
male vocalist of the year
Bentley collected his seventh No. 1 on
Top Country Albums with 2018’s The
Mountain, his ninth full-length studio
album. This year, he received nods in-
cluding male vocalist of the year — his
eighth time in the category — as well
At the 52nd annual
CMA Awards, Morris
(left) and Mavis Staples
joined Stapleton and
others in a rendition
of The Staple Singers’
“I’ll Take You There.”
CMA Awards Nominations Guide
BY PAUL GREIN
70 BILLBOARD • SEPTEMBER 28, 2019