On Wednesday night, Laney Wilson, Ella Langley and Riley Green each took home three honors at the 59th annual CMA Awards ceremony, with Wilson taking home the most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year.
Surprises occurred in some categories long thought to have been held by elusive repeat winners, with Cody Johnson winning Best Male Vocalist, finally unseating Chris Stapleton, while Red Clay Strays replaced the seemingly indomitable Old Dominion as Vocal Group of the Year.
Wilson, the show’s host, won Album of the Year and Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year for “Whirlwind.”
Langley and Green were duet partners and teamed up for “You Look Like You Love Me,” for which they both won Best Single, Song of the Year, and Best Music Video.
“I’m so happy to host this show tonight,” Wilson said as he accepted the culminating award, assuring the crowd that he was okay with losing, considering his first solo hosting performance turned out to be a victory. After finishing his speech, he remembered that it was his duty to give the closing remarks at the show, and he laughed. “I forgot I was hosting this event,” she admitted. “Thank you for letting me dance on this legendary stage and celebrate the greatest genre in the world, country and dance music.”
“Mom, dad, look,” Wilson said while accepting his previous award. “Like many of you here, I wrote this at a time in my life that was constantly changing. And all I remember is being that 11-year-old girl coming home from school, picking up a guitar, and putting my heart and soul into it. That’s how I moved through life and communicated. And that’s exactly what I did for the last two years, when I felt like my life was changing, but I still felt exactly the same.”
Ella Langley was an early leader, winning three of the six nominations. She and duet partner Riley Green won two awards for their hit song “You Look Like You Love Me”: Single of the Year and Song of the Year, in addition to Music Video of the Year, which was announced before the broadcast.
“This song is the gift that keeps on giving,” Langley said as he picked up the Song of the Year trophy. “What a great thing for a song with a talking verse to win song of the year. That’s country music,” Green said.
Zack Top was also a big winner in the early days of television, winning the hotly contested Best Newcomer trophy, but denying Langley at least one award in the process.
Red Clay Strays are the surprise winners of Vocal Group of the Year, the first rock-oriented band to be nominated after a long reign by Old Dominion.
Cody Johnson also won for the first time in the male vocalist category. He expressed his gratitude to the mainstay of the category, saying, “Thank you for paving the way for me to be in the vocalist category with Chris Stapleton, one of the greatest vocalists of all time in any genre.”
Langley, Laney Wilson and Megan Moloney tied for six each, with the top spot a close second with five.
Brooks & Dunn won Vocal Duo of the Year for the 16th time. “In the middle of the night, I said, ‘Are you ever fed up?'” Oh no! ” exclaimed Kix Brooks.
When steel guitarist Paul Franklin won the Musician of the Year award for the first time after 33 consecutive nominations since 1989, it felt both inevitable and an upset.
Instead of comedic monologues, host Laney Wilson sang a medley of modern country classics, probing the originators of songs in the audience, including Brooks & Dunn for part of “Hillbilly Deluxe,” Langley for “You Look Like You Love Me,” Gretchen Wilson for “Redneck Woman,” Lady A for “Need You Now,” and Shabouzy for “Tipsy.” When Rainey came to Little Big Town, they surprised the audience by pulling out their microphones and taking over the song “Girl Crush,” and then back on stage, where Keith Urban brought out his guitar and jammed with Wilson on “Where the Blacktop End.”
Wilson is the only host this year since co-hosting with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning in 2024. She joked that she received messages from both men, including one in which Brian texted her without knowing, “Lainey, what night is the show?”
Luke Combs and Megan Moloney gave the first two full performances of the telecast. Steven Wilson Jr. received the first standing ovation of the night with a solo acoustic cover of the classic “Stand by Me.” Kenny Chesney also had the audience on its feet with a medley of his two signature hits, “American Kids” and “When the Sun Goes Down.” Vince Gill was the subject of a tribute performance by two of the greats of the genre and beyond, Brandi Carlyle and Patti Loveless, who joined forces on a Gill song in the vein of one of country’s most classic songs, “When I Call Your Name” (with instrumentalist winner Paul Franklin on pedal steel).
Below is the complete list of 2025 nominations. Winners’ names are in bold.
Entertainer of the Year
• Luke Combs
• Cody Johnson
• Chris Stapleton
• Morgan Wallen
• Laney Wilson
Best single of the year
Awards go to artists, producers and mix engineers
• “4x4xU” – Rainie Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix engineer: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
• “There’s no love in Oklahoma” – Luke Combs
Producer: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Mix engineer: Chip Matthews
• “Are you okay?” – Megan Moloney
Producer: Christian Busch
Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank
• “I Never Lie” – Zack Top
Producer: Carson Chamberlain
Mix Engineer: Matt Rovey
• “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green
Producer: Will Bundy
Mix Engineer: Jim Cooley
Album of the year
Awards go to artists, producers and mix engineers
• “Are you okay?” – Megan Moloney
Producer: Christian Busch
Mix Engineer: Justin Niebank
• “Cold Beer and Country Music” – Zack Top
Producer: Carson Chamberlain
Mix Engineer: Matt Rovey
• “F-1 Trillion” – Post Malone
Producer: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Mix engineer: Ryan Gore
• “I’m the problem” – Morgan Wallen
Producer: Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Joey Moy
Mix engineer: Charlie Handsome, Joey Moy
• “Whirlwind” – Laney Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Mix engineer: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce
song of the year
The award goes to the songwriter
• “4x4xU”
Songwriters: John Decious, Aaron Laitière, Laney Wilson
• “OK?”
Songwriter: Jesse Jo Dillon, Luke Laird, Megan Moloney
• “I never lie.”
Songwriter: Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols, Zach Topp
• “Texas”
Songwriter: Johnny Clawson, Josh Dole, Lalo Guzman, Kyle Sturrock
• “You seem to love me.”
Songwriters: Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Laitière
female vocalist of the year
•Kelsea Ballerini
•Miranda Lambert
•Ella Langley
• Megan Moloney
• Laney Wilson
Male Vocalist of the Year
• Luke Combs
• Cody Johnson
• Chris Stapleton
• Backpack top
• Morgan Wallen
vocal group of the year
•Lady A
• Little Big Town
• Old Dominion
• Rascal Flatts
• Red Clay Strays
vocal duo of the year
• Brooks & Dunn
• The Osborne Brothers
• Dan + Shay
• Maddy & Tae
• Wars and treaties
this year’s music event
Awards go to artists and producers
• “Don’t Mind if I Do” – Riley Green (featuring Ella Langley)
Producer: Scott Borchetta, Jimmy Harnen, Dan Huff
• “Hard Fight Hallelujah” – Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll
Producer: Micah Nichols
• “I’m Gonna Love You” – Cody Johnson (with Carrie Underwood)
Producer: Trent Wilmon
• “Pour Me a Drink” – Post Malone (feat. Blake Shelton)
Producer: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome
• “You Had to Be There” – Megan Moloney (feat. Kenny Chesney)
Producer: Christian Busch
Musician of the Year
• Jenny Fleenor – fiddle
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar
• Brent Mason – Guitar
• Rob McNelly – guitar
• Derek Wells – guitar
music video of the year
The award goes to artists and directors
• “Are you okay?” – Megan Moloney
Director: Alexandra Gavilette, Megan Moloney
• “I’m Gonna Love You” – Cody Johnson (with Carrie Underwood)
Director: Dustin Haney
• “Somewhere in Laredo” – Laney Wilson
Director: TK McKamey
• “Think I’m in Love with You” – Chris Stapleton
Director: Running Bear
• “You Look Like You Love Me” – Ella Langley & Riley Green
Director: Ella Langley, John Park, Wales Tony
This year’s new artist
•Ella Langley
•Shabzi
• Backpack top
•Tucker Wetmore
• Steven Wilson Jr.
