Sunday night (April 2), the annual CMT Awards will air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Videos by American Songwriter
For the third consecutive year, the show will be hosted by Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini. The 2023 CMT Awards will be broadcasted live on CBS and Paramount + at 8 p.m. ET.
Brown and Ballerini hosted the CMT Music Awards together for the first time in 2021 and again in 2022, alongside actor Anthony Mackie, with Ballerini doing her hosting duties remotely after testing positive for COVID-19 that year.
“Our fans are in for an unforgettable night of music with plenty of surprises, as the Live Music Capital meets Music City for the first time ever on a national stage in what will be a true country music extravaganza,” CMT Awards Executive Producers Leslie Fram, Jason Owen, Margaret Comeaux, and John Hamlin said in a joint statement.
In March, the list of nominees was released and country star Lainey Wilson led the field. Wilson boasts four nomination nods for Video of the Year, Female Video of the Year, Collaborative Video of the Year, and CMT Performance of the Year.
Following closely behind Wilson are Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll and Brown, all with three nods each.
CMT will continue its history of heralding both the biggest names in country music and the burgeoning stars with the Breakthrough Video of the Year Award. The award has been split into two distinctions this year, male and female.
The Breakthrough Female nominees include Avery Anna, Kylie Morgan, MacKenzie Porter, Megan Moroney, Morgan Wade, and Tiera Kennedy.
Bailey Zimmerman, Corey Kent, Drake Milligan, Jackson Dean, Jelly Roll, and Nate Smith will compete in the Breakthrough Male category.
Wynonna Judd received two nominations, including one with her late mother, Naomi, for their final performance together at the 2022 CMT Music Awards. Elsewhere out-of-genre talent Black Pumas, Emmy Russell, Jake Scott, and Katy Perry have also received nominations.
Each winner is selected by the fans. Voting is now open, HERE. See who will be performing and presenting at the 2023 CMT Awards below.
See a full list of nominees HERE.
HOSTS
- Kane Brown
- Kelsea Ballerini
PERFORMERS
- Alanis Morissette + Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress, Madeline Edwards, Morgan Wade
(celebrating 10th anniversary of CMT “Next Women of Country”) - Blake Shelton
- Carly Pearce
- Carrie Underwood
- Cody Johnson
- Gary Clark, Jr. (Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan)
- Gwen Stefani + Carly Pearce
- Jelly Roll
- Kane Brown + Katelyn Brown
- Keith Urban
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Lainey Wilson
- Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute w/ Billy Gibbons, Chuck Leavell, Cody Johnson, Paul Rodgers, Slash & Warren Haynes + LeAnn Rimes & Wynonna Judd as honorary “Honkettes”
- The Black Crowes + Darius Rucker
- Tyler Hubbard
- Wynonna Judd + Ashley McBryde
CMT EQUAL PLAY AWARD RECIPIENT
- Shania Twain
RAM TRUCKS SIDE STAGE PERFORMERS
- Avery Anna
- Chapel Hart
- Jackson Dean
- Lily Rose
- Megan Moroney
- Nate Smith
PRESENTERS
- Carly Pearce
- Carrie Underwood
- Charles Esten
- Darius Rucker
- Dixe D’Amelio
- Dustin Lynch
- HARDY
- Ian Bohen
- Jen Landon
- Jon Pardi
- LeAnn Rimes
- Madison Bailey
- Max Thieriot
- Megan Thee Stallion
- Noah Schnapp
- Parker McCollum
- Peter Frampton
- Shania Twain
- Steve Howey
- Travis Kelce
The final three nominations for the Vidoe of the Year award were announced Sunday morning, prior to the show, with fan voting continuing through the show, HERE.
Photo by John Shearer/Getty for CMT
