The 'Settling Down' singer and the 'Better Than We Found It' star lead the nominees for the upcoming CMT Music Awards by collecting a total of four mentions each.
- May 14, 2021
AceShowbiz - Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris will lead the way at the 2021 CMT Music Awards after snagging four nominations apiece.
The singers will each have a double shot of winning Video of the Year - Lambert will compete with "Settling Down" as well as her Elle King duet "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)", while Morris is recognised for her solo track "Better Than We Found It" and "Chasing After You", her collaboration with her husband, Ryan Hurd.
The leading ladies will also go head-to-head for Female Video of the Year and Collaborative Video of the Year.
Ceremony hosts Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini are triple nominees for the 9 June prizegiving, as are Little Big Town and Mickey Guyton, who picks up her first ever CMT Music Awards nods.
Noticeably missing from the contenders is disgraced country singer Morgan Wallen, whose music was pulled from radio and TV stations following his N-word controversy, which was leaked online in early February.
CMT bosses decided to exclude Wallen from the nominations process in the wake of the scandal, just as he was nixed from the Academy of Country Music Awards shortlist, which was revealed last month (Apr21).
In a statement, network officials told Variety, "After removing Morgan Wallen from our platforms earlier this year, his videos were deemed ineligible for the 2021 CMT Music Awards."
The winners of the CMT Music awards will be decided by fans, who will help to narrow down the contenders in the top Video of the Year category in the lead up to the big show.
The complete list of nominees are:
Video of the Year:
- Carrie Underwood with John Legend - "Hallelujah"
- Dierks Bentley - "Gone"
- Elle King and Miranda Lambert - "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)"
- Ingrid Andress - "Lady Like"
- Kane Brown - "Worldwide Beautiful"
- Keith Urban with Pink - "One Too Many"
- Kelsea Ballerini - "Hole in the Bottle"
- Kenny Chesney - "Knowing You"
- Maren Morris - "Better Than We Found It"
- Mickey Guyton - "Heaven Down Here"
- Miranda Lambert - "Settling Down"
- Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris - "Chasing After You"
- Sam Hunt - "Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90's"
- Willie Jones - "American Dream"
Female Video of the Year:
- Carly Pearce - "Next Girl"
- Gabby Barrett - "The Good Ones"
- Kelsea Ballerini - "Hole in the Bottle"
- Maren Morris - "To Hell & Back"
- Mickey Guyton - "Heaven Down Here"
- Miranda Lambert - "Settling Down"
Male Video of the Year:
- Chris Stapleton - "Starting Over"
- Darius Rucker - "Beers and Sunshine"
- Kane Brown - "Worship You"
- Luke Bryan - "Down to One"
- Luke Combs - "Lovin' on You"
- Thomas Rhett - "What's Your Country Song"
Duo/Group Video of the Year:
- Brothers Osborne - "All Night"
- Lady Antebellum - "Like a Lady"
- Little Big Town - "Wine, Beer, Whiskey"
- Old Dominion - "Never Be Sorry"
- Parmalee and Blanco Brown - "Just the Way"
- Runaway June - "We Were Rich"
Breakthrough Video of the Year:
- Dylan Scott - "Nobody"
- Hailey Whitters feat. Little Big Town - "Fillin' My Cup"
- Hardy - "Give Heaven Some Hell"
- Lainey Wilson - "Things a Man Oughta Know"
- Mickey Guyton - "Black Like Me"
- Niko Moon - "Good Time (Ride Along Video)"
Collaborative Video of the Year:
- Carrie Underwood with John Legend - "Hallelujah"
- Chris Young and Kane Brown - "Famous Friends"
- Elle King and Miranda Lambert - "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)"
- Keith Urban with Pink - "One Too Many"
- Ryan Hurd with Maren Morris - "Chasing After You"
- Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard - "Undivided"
CMT Performance of the Year:
- From the 2020 CMT Music Awards - Brooks & Dunn and Luke Combs, "1, 2 Many"
- From the 2020 CMT Music Awards - Dan + Shay, "I Should Probably Go to Bed"
- From the 2020 CMT Music Awards - Jimmie Allen and Noah Cyrus, "This Is Us"
- From the 2020 CMT Music Awards - Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey, "The Other Girl"
- From the 2020 CMT Music Awards - Little Big Town, "Wine, Beer, Whiskey"
- From CMT Crossroads - Nathaniel Rateliff and Margo Price, "Twinkle Twinkle"