The 2024 CMA Awards have granted Morgan Wallen and Post Malone multiple nominations, yet noticeably overlooked Beyoncé, despite her release of one of the year's top country albums, Cowboy Carter, and the smash hit "Texas Hold ‘Em."
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Wallen leads the pack with seven nominations, followed by Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson with five each, while Malone and Lainey Wilson earned four nods apiece. Wilson, the reigning entertainer of the year, will compete once again for the title against Wallen, Stapleton, Luke Combs, and Jelly Roll at the November 20 show, airing live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on ABC.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter made history by spending four consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, making her the first Black woman to do so. She also became the first Black woman to claim the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which held its position for an impressive 10 weeks.
Her album and single also led Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 and 200 albums charts, while seven tracks from Cowboy Carter landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard country chart. The 27-track album, featuring icons like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Miley Cyrus, and Post Malone, sparked a conversation about Black artists reclaiming the genres they originated, including country music.
Despite being completely overlooked, Beyoncé was eligible for categories such as single of the year, song of the year, album of the year, female vocalist of the year, and music event of the year. She also qualified for entertainer of the year, though that honor is generally reserved for country acts with long-standing ties to the genre.
The CMAs are voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes industry professionals such as artists, executives, songwriters, musicians, and publicists. To qualify, singles and albums must have been released or achieved national prominence during the eligibility window, which ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Final voting takes place from October 1 to October 29.
This CMA snub follows the 2016 controversy when Beyoncé surprised the audience with a performance of her country-flavored song “Daddy Lessons” alongside The Chicks at the CMAs. While some praised the performance, others in the country music community responded with backlash, calling for boycotts, and Beyoncé’s performance was removed from the CMA website.
When teasing Cowboy Carter in March, Beyoncé appeared to allude to this experience: “This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience I had years ago where I didn’t feel welcomed...and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But because of that, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
Unlike Beyoncé, another artist who ventured into country music this year was met with nominations. Malone's four nominations for his chart-topping hit "I Had Some Help," featuring Wallen, include single of the year, song of the year, musical event of the year, and music video of the year. Wallen's seven nominations include those four, as well as a second music event of the year nod for "Man Made A Bar" with Eric Church, male vocalist of the year, and entertainer of the year.
Beyoncé's collaborator Shaboozey, who gained major traction after appearing on two tracks from Cowboy Carter, also earned his first-ever CMA nominations. He's up for best new artist and single of the year with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which has spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart, making it the longest-running top song of the year. It has dominated the country chart for 13 consecutive weeks.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and “I Had Some Help” will go up against Stapleton’s “White Horse,” Wilson’s “Watermelon Moonshine,” and Johnson’s “Dirt Cheap” for single of the year. Both “I Had Some Help” and “White Horse” are also nominated for song of the year — an award for songwriters — alongside Parker McCollum’s “Burn It Down” and two of Johnson's tracks: “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter.” Johnson, however, only earned one nod in the category, as he co-wrote “Dirt Cheap” but wasn’t involved in writing “The Painter.”
For album of the year, the contenders include Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well, Luke Combs’ Fathers & Sons, Jelly Roll’s Whitsitt Chapel, Johnson’s Leather, and Stapleton’s Higher. Stapleton shares his nomination with his wife, Morgane, who co-produced the album.
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