The Country Music Association has announced the initial lineup of performers for the upcoming CMA Awards, with all three leading nominees – Laney Wilson, Megan Moloney and Ella Langley, who are tied for six awards each – scheduled to sing, as well as close runner-up Zack Top, who has been nominated for five awards.
Shabouzy, Big The Plug, Luke Combs, Tucker Wetmore and Stephen Wilson round out the list of performers announced Thursday for the CMAs, which take place on November 19 in just under two weeks.
CMA also announced some of the songs these artists will perform on the ABC telecast.
Langley will perform her just-released single “Choosin’ Texas,” while Moloney will perform her latest song, “6 Months Later,” which was released in June ahead of her album, which is scheduled for release in early 2026.
The top person plays the “guitar”. Wetmore, who is nominated for New Artist of the Year, will sing “Wind Up Missin’ You.”
Another potential new artist, Stephen Wilson Jr., will take the stage twice. He will be performing a solo cover of Ben E. King’s classic song “Stand by Me.” He and Shabuzi will also sing a duet titled “Took a Walk,” which they performed in the recent film “The Long Walk.”
In another collaboration just announced, BigXthaPlug and Luke Combs will team up for a live version of the song “Pray Hard.”
Additional performers will be announced within the next two weeks.
Wilson will take on a triple role that night, not only as the main nominee and performer, but also as the host of the three-hour telecast. It was previously announced that the previous Entertainer of the Year winner would be the third host in 2024 and the sole host of the year, serving as a sidekick to longtime mainstays Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning.
The 59th annual show will be broadcast live on ABC from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on November 19th at 8pm ET. It will be available on Hulu starting the next day.
