Tommy Brandt and Tommy Brandt II perform during the 2016 Inspirational Country Music Association Awards at Trinity Music City on October 27, 2016 in Hendersonville, Tennessee. (Getty)
Each year, the CMA Awards recognize outstanding achievements by artists and broadcasters in the country music scene. The 2016 CMA Awards will be broadcast Wednesday, November 2, 2016. And what about the 2017 show? That date hasn’t been determined yet, but the awards are almost always televised in October or November, so you can bet it’ll be around this time next year. From 1969-1971, the CMAs were broadcast on NBC, then they moved to CBS from 1971 to 2005, and starting in 2006, they were televised on ABC. The first CMA Awards were held at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry in 1968. In 2006, the show took place at Madison Square Garden in NYC.
And what about eligibility and voting? The songs and albums that are eligible for CMA consideration are ones that were released after July 1 of the previous year, and June 30 of the award show year. Awards are giving in twelve categories: Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, New Artist (previously known as the Horizon Award until 2008), Vocal Group, Vocal Duo (introduced in 1970), Single, Album, Song, Musical Event (split off from the Vocal Duo award in 1988 as Vocal Event), Music Video (introduced in 1985), and Musician.
This year, Tara Thompson will be hosting the CMA Awards red carpet. Brad Paisley has also revealed he’s going to pay tribute to Randy Travis, who suffered a stroke in July 2013. According to Taste of Country, “[Travis] has been working hard to learn to walk and speak again, and has said that he hopes to one day be well enough to resume his career.”
Tonight’s CMA Awards will be celebrating 50 years of country music, and Carrie Underwood will be donning 11 different dresses for the festivities. According to People, Underwood will be wearing a different outfit for each decade in honor of the evolution of country music’s style. She told PeopleStyle, “…going back, there are just so many incredible, legendary ladies of country music. I didn’t wanna really completely pigeonhole myself to one artist. It’s about paying tribute as well.”
