The 58th Annual CMA Awards was a star-studded affair
The CMA Awards is the longest-running annual music awards program on television, and on November 20th, they celebrated their 58th year. Singers, songwriters, producers, press, and more made their way to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to witness “country music’s biggest night.”
Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning returned to host the ceremony. This year, they were joined by Lainey Wilson, who took home the award for CMA Female Vocalist of the Year.
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While most performers were announced prior to the ceremony, Carrie Underwood surprised the audience when she took the stage with Cody Johnson to perform their duet “I’m Gonna Love You.”
At first glance, it seems like everybody who is anybody in country music was in attendance at the CMA Awards. However, a handful of significant faces were missing from the crowd.
Who did not attend the 2024 CMA Awards?
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen was the most nominated artist at the 2024 CMA Awards, with seven nods. He took home the night’s biggest accolade, Entertainer of the Year, but he was not present to accept it.
Morgan and the CMAs have a contentious past. His 2021 racial slur controversy resulted in him being prohibited from attending the awards show and disqualified him from receiving nominations. He returned to the show in 2022 and 2023 but did not win any awards.
Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan received a nomination for Musical Event of the Year for his collaboration with Kacey Musgraves, but did not attend the ceremony. He is currently in Canada for his Quittin’ Time tour.
Taylor Dye
Taylor Dye, one-half of Maddie and Tae, recently welcomed her second child. The baby boy was born prematurely and is currently in the NICU. As a result, Maddie Marlow represented the duo at the awards without her counterpart.
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Maddie and Tae were nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year, but the award was presented to Brooks & Dunn.
Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band received one nod from the 2024 CMA awards – Vocal Group of the Year. Old Dominion ultimately took home the award, but Zac Brown and bandmates were not present at the show.
Lady A
Like Zac Brown Band, Lady A was also in the running for Vocal Group of the Year. The group did not attend the 2024 ceremony but, in celebration, shared a throwback video online from when they took home their first CMA award in 2009. See it below!
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Beyoncé
When nominations for the 2024 CMAs were first announced, some fans were surprised to see Beyoncé absent from the list. Her album Cowboy Carter was released in March of this year. The “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer made history when she topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Top Country Albums charts.
Many called Beyoncé’s lack of CMA nominations a snub, and unsurprisingly, she did not attend the ceremony.
Additional country artists who did not attend the CMAs include Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Kane Brown, and Alan Jackson. These artists are staples in the country music community but were not among the nominees this year.