CMA Awards 2025: Winners, Highlights, and Low Points

NASHVILLE — The Country Music Association Awards continue to show their support for Lainey Wilson.
Wilson, a singer from Louisiana who spent years working to make it in Nashville only to be told she was "too country," has maintained her status as one of the genre's brightest stars since her breakout hits several years ago.
On Wednesday, Wilson was named entertainer of the year, the ceremony’s most prestigious prize. She beat out Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and Cody Johnson. This makes her the third woman in the ceremony’s 59-year history — after Barbara Mandrell and Taylor Swift — to win the category twice.
“I just came into here just wanting to celebrate country music, the love of my life, and I know the love of so many of y’all’s lives,” Wilson, 33, said onstage. She thanked her family, her team and her fans, who “make my dreams come true every single day.”
Wilson, who hosted the show and performed, also won album of the year for her 2024 record “Whirlwind,” as well as female vocalist. During her speech for the latter, Wilson took a swipe at anyone who claims that women in the music industry don’t get along.
“Find those people that lift you up and encourage you, and pray for you, pray with you, love on you, on the good days, the bad days, all of it,” Wilson said, giving a shout-out to some country artists who have supported her, including Mandrell, Miranda Lambert and Jo Dee Messina. “And for the folks that are sitting at home in your mama’s basement eating your Cheetos, trying to pit women against each other: Y’all need to find something better to do.”
The other winners included Riley Green and Ella Langley, who hit it big with their flirty 2024 duet, “You Look Like You Love Me.” The track won song and single of the year, as well as music video. While the CMA voters tend to repeatedly award their favorites, some newer winners broke through, such as Johnson for male vocalist — though he paid tribute to frequent honoree Stapleton — and the Red Clay Strays for vocal group.
Here are some of the best and worst moments from the three-hour telecast on ABC. A full list of winners and nominees is below.

BEST

Lainey Wilson’s opening monologue
The CMAs usually start with the hosts trying to warm up the audience with some jokes; sometimes it works out great and sometimes it goes very poorly. Wilson, the third woman to host the show solo (the other two were Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire), skipped any potential awkwardness and gave an earnest opening monologue about how much she adored watching the CMAs growing up in her tiny hometown of Baskin, Louisiana.
Wilson wisely saved the comedy for later, when actual comedian Leanne Morgan showed up to talk about how she’s glad she became famous in her 50s — “Sometimes I think it’s a blessing that this all didn’t happen to me when I was younger and thinner, I think I would have used it for evil” — as well as jokes about Tim McGraw’s Instagram workout videos and how she hoped Green would help her out of her outfit later.
Wilson then segued into a medley of country hits, singing to the artists as she wandered through the audience: Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman,” Lady A’s “Need You Now,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder & Lead,” Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush.” For the grand finale, she hopped onstage with Keith Urban for “Where the Blacktop Ends,” and the crowd went wild.

Zach Top’s exciting night
Breakout star Zach Top just looked happy to be there when he launched into his song “Guitar.” He beamed while standing on a guitar-shaped stage setup, naturally, as his classic country voice cut through for a delightful performance. Top’s night got even better a few minutes later when he won best new artist. He arrived onstage with a beer can in hand: “I can’t remember if I was supposed to put my beer down first or not,” he said, and took a sip, adding, “This is my first CMA win ever, so it’s a big deal.”

Vince Gill’s icon award
Gill is nothing if not self-deprecating, and on the red carpet he told The Washington Post his reaction when he found out he was receiving the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award: “You got all the way down to the ‘V’s’ before you found somebody?!” And when he arrived onstage to accept his prize, he joked that the CMAs previously let him host the show for 12 years, which may have been “the dumbest thing they ever did.”
But Gill was obviously moved as he thanked everyone at the CMAs, the Grand Ole Opry, his management, his fellow musicians and his family — including his wife, Christian music star Amy Grant, whom he called “the kindest soul I’ve ever known.” He also gave a shout-out to the 92-year-old namesake of his award. “Willie, if you’re out there listening … you’re still inspiring.”

Ella Langley’s performance
Once again, Langley looked as if she’d been performing on the CMAs stage for years with her confident delivery of “Choosin’ Texas,” her latest single, which she co-wrote with Texas native Lambert.

Luke Combs’s consistency
Is there anyone more consistent — and with a more consistent voice — than Luke Combs? The CMAs executives know the answer to that, which is why they chose the hitmaker to open and close the show. The first song was his booming “Back in the Saddle,” Combs’s latest in a long line of No. 1 singles, and the second was his captivating duet “Pray Hard” with rapper BigXthaPlug, who just released his first country album this year.

Lainey Wilson’s performance
During a news conference earlier in the week, Wilson hinted that the audience was going to see more of her sassy side, and she did just that with a rollicking rendition of “Ring Finger.” (In this tale, a guy pops the question but then cheats; so in other words, “I got the ring, he got the finger.”) The spectacle included a giant glowing set piece, backup dancers and lots of fringe.

The Brett James tribute
Country songwriting legend Brett James died in a plane crash this past September, a tragedy that stunned Music Row, and the CMAs offered a tribute from one of James’s closest collaborators. Kenny Chesney, in attendance to celebrate his recent induction to the Country Music Hall of Fame, delivered a high-energy sing-along to his 2004 summery smash “When the Sun Goes Down,” a solo write by James. Photos of James enjoying the sunshine flashed on the screen, as Chesney called out, “Brett James, we love you!”

WORST

Old Dominion’s medley
There were gasps in the press room when the Red Clay Strays — a newer country rock band that started in Alabama — won vocal group of the year, snapping Old Dominion’s seven-year winning streak in the category. (When the Red Clay Strays arrived backstage to answer questions, they jokingly wondered whether there had been a mistake.) But it seemed like the perfect timing to pass the torch. Old Dominion’s medley of their past hits sounded fine, but showed a lack of creativity from a group that has crushed the CMAs competition in recent times.

Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert’s obvious aesthetics
On one hand, it’s fun to just watch two excellent vocalists sing at each other. On the other, if these two are so determined to communicate to the audience that they have a disco-tinged song, let’s kick the background and the costumes up a notch more than just some mirror balls and matching suits.

The dominance of ‘You Look Like You Love Me’ a year later
It would take some rule changes to fix this issue, but it was a bit frustrating to watch this song clean up in three categories when it was released way back in June 2024 — and it already won a CMA last year, for musical event, and the duo performed it at the show. How is this possible? The CMA eligibility period for this year was July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, and the rules state that a song must reach the top 10 on the Billboard or radio charts for the first time within that time period to be eligible for such prizes. So technically a fair victory, and other songs in the categories were also released last year … but it was still a letdown for other artists and the singles on the list that were much more dominant hits in the year 2025.

Entertainer of the Year
Lainey Wilson — winner
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
Morgan Wallen

Male Vocalist of the Year
Cody Johnson — winner
Luke Combs
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Zach Top

Female Vocalist of the Year
Lainey Wilson — winner
Megan Moroney
Ella Langley
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert

Album of the Year
“Whirlwind” Lainey Wilson — winner
“Am I Okay?” Megan Moroney
“Cold Beer & Country Music” Zach Top
“I’m the Problem” Morgan Wallen
“F-1 Trillion” Post Malone

Single of the Year
“You Look Like You Love Me” Ella Langley and Riley Green — winner
“4x4xU” Lainey Wilson
“Am I Okay?” Megan Moroney
“I Never Lie” Zach Top
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” — Luke Combs

Song of the Year
“You Look Like You Love Me” Ella Langley and Riley Green (written by Langley, Green and Aaron Raitiere) — winner
“4x4xU” Lainey Wilson (written by Wilson, Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere)
“Am I Okay?” Megan Moroney (written by Moroney, Jessie Jo Dillon, Luke Laird)
“I Never Lie” Zach Top (written by Top, Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols)
“Texas” Blake Shelton (written by Johnny Clawson, Josh Dorr, Lalo Guzman, Kyle Sturrock)

Vocal Group of the Year
The Red Clay Strays — winner
Lady A
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn — winner
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty

New Artist of the Year
Zach Top — winner
Shaboozey
Ella Langley
Tucker Wetmore
Stephen Wilson Jr.

Musical Event of the Year
“Pour Me a Drink” Post Malone feat. Blake Shelton — winner
“Don’t Mind If I Do” Riley Green feat. Ella Langley
“Hard Fought Hallelujah” Brandon Lake with Jelly Roll
“I’m Gonna Love You” Cody Johnson with Carrie Underwood
“You Had to Be There” Megan Moroney feat. Kenny Chesney

Music Video of the Year
“You Look Like You Love Me” Ella Langley and Riley Green — winner
“Somewhere Over Laredo” Lainey Wilson
“Am I Okay?” Megan Moroney
“I’m Gonna Love You” Cody Johnson with Carrie Underwood
“Think I’m in Love With You” Chris Stapleton