52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards

The 52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards, commonly known as the 52nd CMA Awards, were held on November 14, 2018, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee and was hosted for the eleventh and final time by CMA Award winners Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.^[2]

52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards
Date	November 14, 2018
Location	Bridgestone Arena Nashville, Tennessee
Hosted by	Brad Paisley Carrie Underwood
Most awards	Chris Stapleton (3)
Most nominations	Chris Stapleton (5)
Television/radio coverage
Network	ABC
Viewership	10.1 million[1]
← 51st · CMA · 53rd →

Winners and nominees

The nominations for the 52nd CMA Awards were announced on August 28, 2018, on Good Morning America by Luke Bryan, Dan + Shay and Sugarland.

The winners are shown in Bold.^[3]

Entertainer of the Year	Album of the Year
Keith Urban Jason Aldean Luke Bryan Kenny Chesney Chris Stapleton	Golden Hour — Kacey Musgraves The Mountain — Dierks Bentley Life Changes — Thomas Rhett From A Room: Volume 2 — Chris Stapleton Graffiti U — Keith Urban
Male Vocalist of the Year	Female Vocalist of the Year
Chris Stapleton Dierks Bentley Luke Combs Thomas Rhett Keith Urban	Carrie Underwood Kelsea Ballerini Miranda Lambert Maren Morris Kacey Musgraves
Vocal Group of the Year	Vocal Duo of the Year
Old Dominion Lady Antebellum LANCO Little Big Town Midland	Brothers Osborne Dan + Shay Florida Georgia Line Maddie & Tae Sugarland
Single of the Year	Song of the Year
"Broken Halos" — Chris Stapleton "Drinkin' Problem" — Midland "Drowns the Whiskey" — Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert "Meant to Be" — Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line "Tequila" — Dan + Shay	"Broken Halos" — Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson "Body Like a Back Road" — Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne "Drowns the Whiskey" — Brandon Kinney, Jeff Middleton, and Josh Thompson "Drunk Girl" — Scooter Carusoe, Tom Douglas, and Chris Janson "Tequila" — Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds, and Dan Smyers
New Artist of the Year	Musician of the Year
Luke Combs Lauren Alaina Chris Janson Midland Brett Young	Mac McAnally, Guitar Jerry Douglas, Dobro Paul Franklin, Steele Guitar Dann Huff, Guitar Derek Wells, Guitar
Music Video of the Year	Musical Event of the Year
"Marry Me" — Thomas Rhett "Babe" — Sugarland and Taylor Swift "Cry Pretty" — Carrie Underwood "Drunk Girl" — Chris Janson "Tequila" — Dan + Shay	"Everything's Gonna Be Alright" — David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney "Drowns the Whiskey" — Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert "Burning Man" — Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne "Dear Hate" — Maren Morris and Vince Gill "Meant to Be" — Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line

Performers

Artist(s)	Song(s)
Luke Bryan Luke Combs Cole Swindell Lindsay Ell Chris Janson Jon Pardi Ashley McBryde	"What Makes You Country"
Jason Aldean Miranda Lambert	"Drowns the Whiskey"
Thomas Rhett	"Life Changes"
Dan + Shay	"Tequila"
Lauren Alaina	"A Lesson in Leavin'"
Kelsea Ballerini	"Miss Me More"
Old Dominion	"Hotel Key"
Carrie Underwood	"Love Wins"
Brett Young	"Mercy"
Ricky Skaggs Kentucky Thunder Keith Urban John Osborne Brad Paisley Marty Stuart Sierra Hull Carson Peters	"Black Eyed Suzie" "Highway 40 Blues" "Country Boy"
Midland	"East Bound and Down"
Bebe Rexha Florida Georgia Line	"Meant to Be"
Luke Combs	"She Got the Best of Me"
Keith Urban	"Never Comin' Down"
Garth Brooks	"Stronger Than Me"
Pistol Annies	"Got My Name Changed Back"
Dierks Bentley Brothers Osborne	"Burning Man"
Chris Stapleton Morgane Stapleton Maren Morris Mavis Staples Marty Stuart	"Friendship" "I'll Take You There"
Brad Paisley	"Bucked Off"
Kacey Musgraves	"Slow Burn"
Eric Church Joanna Cotten	"Desperate Man"

Presenters

Presenter(s)[4]	Award
Lady Antebellum	Song of the Year
Mackenzie Foy and Noah Schnapp	New Artist of the Year
Jimmie Allen, Dustin Lynch and Carly Pearce	Single of the Year
Kane Brown and Olivia Culpo	Vocal Group of the Year
Little Big Town	Album of the Year
Bobby Bones and Sharna Burgess	Vocal Duo of the Year
Martina McBride and Lara Spencer	Male Vocalist of the Year
Trisha Yearwood and Dennis Quaid	Female Vocalist of the Year
Lionel Richie	Entertainer of the Year

Reception

Underwood and Pasley's monologue was praised for ignoring the subject of politics, with Fox News stating that "despite avoiding controversial topics, Underwood and Paisley still delivered a joke-filled opening monologue that left many in the audience in stitches".^[5]

In their review of the best and worst moments of the telecast, The Washington Post praised Stapleton's performance with Morris and Staples, Brooks' "sweet" and "adorable" tribute to Trisha Yearwood, Bryan's opening number, the "fiery" Pistol Annies performance and the Ricky Skaggs tribute and celebrated Musgraves' Album of the Year win as well as the performances on newer artists such as Combs and Dan + Shay. However, they were critical of Paisley and Underwood's monologue, calling it "flat", "lame" and claiming that it "didn't make sense", leaving audience members "confused". Lauren Alaina's tribute to Dottie West was criticised for being too short and Midland's tribute to Burt Reynolds was described as being too confusing and unexplained.^[6]

References

1. de Moraes, Lisa (2018-11-15). "'Country Music Awards' Tops Wednesday While Tumbling To Lowest-Ever Ratings". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
2. "Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley Set to Host 2018 CMA Awards". 2 August 2018.
3. "CMA Awards announces 2018 hosts, will reveal nominees on August 28".
4. "Everything You Need to Know About the 52nd CMA Awards Show, Including Performers, Presenters, Nominees & More". The Ty Bentli Show. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
5. Savitsky, Sasha (14 November 2018). "CMA Awards: Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley praised for leaving politics out, Keith Urban wins top award". Fox News. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
6. "CMA Awards: 10 things you missed, from Keith Urban's big win to the awkward monologue jokes". The Washington Post. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2019-01-23.