The 59th Annual CMA Awards Celebrate Achievements In Country Music
The brightest stars in country music gathered at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for the 59th annual CMA Awards on November 19th. Lainey Wilson returned to host for the second consecutive year, but this time, she ran solo. She is only the third female artist in history to host the show on her own, following in the footsteps of Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton.
The host herself was tied with Megan Moroney and Ella Langley for the most nominations this year, each earning six. See the complete list of nominees here.
CMA Album Of The Year Nominees
Megan Moroney, Zach Top, Post Malone, Lainey Wilson, and Morgan Wallen received nominations for Album of the Year. The honor is awarded to the artist, producer, and mix engineer of the record.
Am I Okay? was the second studio album released by Megan Moroney. She wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album, which reached the third spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the ninth spot on the Billboard 200 cross-genre chart.
Zach Top’s debut album, Cold Beer & Country Music, was released in April 2024 and earned praise for reviving a classic country sound in a new generation. It contained Top’s first two Top 20 hits, “Sounds Like The Radio” and “I Never Lie.”
After finding success in the rap and hip-hop space, Post Malone transitioned to country music with his album F-1 Trillion. Featuring collaborations with more than a dozen country artists, the album debuted at number one on both the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the Billboard 200 cross-genre chart.
Whirlwind is CMA host Lainey Wilson’s fifth studio album. It reached the eighth spot on the Billboard 200, marking Wilson’s first top-ten ranking on the chart. The record contains hit songs “4x4xU” and “Hang Tight Honey.”
Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem is composed of a staggering 37 tracks, marking his longest album to date. After its release, he broke his own record for the most tracks charted on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, with 36 of the tracks appearing in the rankings. Additionally, he became the only artist in history to hold all tracks inside the top ten of the Hot Country Songs chart.
2025 CMA Album Of The Year Announced
Steve Martin and Alison Brown took the CMA stage to present the award for Album of the Year. None other than CMA host Lainey Wilson took home the award for her record Whirlwind!
Lainey also took home the honor in 2023 for her album Bell Bottom Country. She is only the second female artist in history to win the award twice, following Miranda Lambert, who won in 2010 and 2014.
Congratulations to Lainey Wilson for winning Album of the Year for Whirlwind! Check back for the video of her acceptance speech.
