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The 2019 CMT Artists of the Year event is here, with a lineup of country stars as honorees and award winners. The show airs live on the CMT network at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT. And, in addition to stars being honored for their achievements, there will be a bunch of big performances to pay tribute to each of them. Read on below for a rundown on the performers and the presenters.
CMT Artists of the Year 2019 Performers
CMT reported that this year’s honorees include Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Luke Combs, Kane Brown, and Thomas Rhett. With the announcement of this year’s artists, Leslie Fram, CMT’s Senior Vice President of Music Strategy & Talent, released this statement, “These five, stand-out honorees have dominated country music this year and we look forward to paying tribute to each of them at the 10th year anniversary CMT Artists of the Year event. From first-time honorees Dan + Shay, Kane Brown and Luke Combs to two-time honoree Thomas Rhett and now five-time honoree Carrie Underwood, this incredible collection of talent coming together at what marks a pivotal time in each of their careers promises to be a night of incredible performances and reflection.”
Breakout Artist award recipient for this year’s show, Ashley McBryde, will take the stage to perform in celebration of her honor. This Is Us actress Chrissy Metz will appear to pay tribute to Luke Combs with a performance as well, according to E! News. For Reba McEntire’s Lifetime Award, Lady Antebellum and Sam Hunt deliver a performance in her honor.
This is the first year that Luke Combs is an honoree, as it has been a major year for him. Recently, he spoke with People about how he actually had difficulty accepting the quick rise of fame. Combs said, “I definitely struggled with it at times. I dealt with it probably a lot last year as things were really taking off and really getting kicked into high gear. But I’ve definitely pushed past all that stuff now … I just kinda kept moving forward. I mean, that was it. There wasn’t any time to stop anyway. So the best medication was just to work through things. And I’m definitely.”
CMT Artists of the Year 2019 Presenters
E! News has reported that presenters at this year’s awards include Bobby Bones, Vince Gill, Johnny Galecki, Lauren Akins, Lonnie Chavis, and country duo Maddie & Tae. Vince Gill will present Reba McEntire with her award.
Ahead of the big night, McEntire spoke with CMT about the work that goes into being a country music success story. She said, “The hardest part about your career is not getting there, it’s maintaining. And so you’ve got to be creative, recreate yourself. That’s why after doing so many tours [you think], ’How many more bells and whistles and smoke and mirrors can you have?’ … You just have to keep trying to find a new way of being Reba McEntire, and we were very successful with it.”