Morgan Wallen leads CMA Award contenders, as Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter snubbed
Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton also among lead nominees
He had some help: Morgan Wallen tops the 2024 Country Music Association award nominations with seven nods, in part due to his collaboration with genre-hopping performer Post Malone.
For a third year in a row, Wallen is up for both the top prize — entertainer of the year — and the male vocalist categories. Rounding out the entertainer of the year categories are Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson.
Post Malone's massive radio hit, I Had Some Help, which features Wallen, is the main reason why the country singer leads the pack this year. It is up for single, song, musical event and music video of the year.
His last nomination is a second one in the musical event category, for his collaboration with Eric Church, Man Made a Bar.
Single of the year is awarded to the artist, producer and mix engineers; song of the year is given to the songwriters.
No nods for Beyoncé album
Ahead of the nominations announcement, some fans speculated that Beyoncé, whose landmark country-and-then-some reclamation Cowboy Carter was released during the eligibility window, could receive a nomination at the 2024 CMAs. She did not.
Earlier this year, the album hit No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to top the chart since its 1964 inception.
The album was five years in the making, a direct result of what Beyoncé has called "an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed — and it was very clear that I wasn't," most likely a reference to a 2016 CMAs performance that resulted in racist backlash.
The CMA Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes music executives, artists, publicists, songwriters and other industry professionals.
Wallen is followed by both Cody Johnson, who is also nominated in the male vocalist category for the third year in a row, and seven-time male vocalist of the year winner, Stapleton.
Stapleton and Johnson have five nominations each. But Stapleton could take home seven trophies, should he sweep his categories. He's both an artist and producer on White Horse, up for single of the year, and Higher, up for album of the year.
At the Country Music Awards, production credits are not counted as separate nominations, although they are factored into trophy counts.
First-time nominee Post Malone and Wilson, last year's entertainer of the year winner, are tied with four nominations. All of Malone's nominations are for I Had Some Help. Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome and Hoskins are tied with three nominations for their work as producers and co-writers on I Had Some Help.
Jelly Roll, Combs, Kacey Musgraves and Megan Moroney also boast three nods each. The last three artists could take home four trophies: Combs is both artist and producer on Fathers & Sons, up for album of the year. The same is true for Musgraves's album Deeper Well.
And Moroney is both artist and director of her nominated music video, I'm Not Pretty.
The 2024 CMA Awards will air on Nov. 20 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET and will be streamed the next day on Hulu.