The 2015 Country Music Association Awards took place on Wednesday, November 4th. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood both returned to host the 49th annual award ceremony, all while paying tribute to the best professionals in the industry. This year’s award ceremony was a great success, filled with several fan favorite winners, as well as newcomers to the industry.
CMA Categories
As usual, this year’s award ceremony offered several different award categories, providing a number of talented individuals with the opportunity to win. The categories for the 2015 CMA awards included, Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Vocal Duo of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Musical Event of the Year, Music Video of the Year, and Musician of the Year.
Winners of 2015
There were a variety of winners, as well as different nominees in each category. Here were the winners of the night!
Musician of the Year- Mac McNally
Music Video of the Year- Girl in a Country Song by Maddie & Tae
Musical Event of the Year- Raise ‘Em up Keith Urban featuring Eric Church
Song of the Year- Girl Crush Written by Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, and Hillary Lindsey
Single of the Year- Girl Crush by Little Big Town
Album of the Year- Traveller by Chris Stapleton
New Artist of the Year- Chris Stapleton
Vocal Duo of the Year- Florida Georgia Line
Vocal Group of the Year- Little Big Town
Male Vocalist of the Year- Chris Stapleton
Female Vocalist of the Year- Miranda Lambert
Entertainer of the Year- Luke Bryan
Musical Performances of the Night
The best part about the Country Music Association Awards is that it not only celebrates country music by presenting awards, but it always delivers great musical guests. This year was no exception, as several country music superstars took the stage to perform some of their best hits. Performers included Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley w/ Lindsay Stirling, Brooks and Dunn w/ Reba, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Fall Out Boy w/ Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Maddie & Tae, John Mellencamp w/ Keith Urban, Kacey Musgraves, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton w/ Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, Hank William Jr. w/ Eric Church, and Zac Brown Band.
Best and Worst Moments of the night
Just like any other televised award show, the 2015 CMA’s offered its share of good and bad moments. There were some great performances, especially by Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton who sang “Tennessee Whiskey” and “Drink You Away”. Chris Stapleton also said a tearful acceptance speech for his win in the Male Vocalist of the Year category, paying his album’s tribute to his late father. A fun moment came when William Shatner came on stage dressed as a Stormtrooper for a Star Trek/ Star Wars crossover bit. Some awkward moments of the night were ones that might have been expected.
And, of course, members of the audience were dressed to the nines – some much more outlandishly than the performers, like they took out title loans to afford their extravagant wear.
With Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton’s split earlier this year, and the press announcing Blake’s new romance with Gwen Stefani, it was inevitable that their break up would be talked about. This was made even more awkward because the joke ended up being about The Muppets characters, Miss Piggy and Kermit. In all reality, everyone in the room and watching at home knew it was meant toward the country music couple’s split. Another awkward moment came when hosts Paisley and Underwood reworked the lyrics to “Crazy” by Patsy Cline and made mention of “Bruce is a babe now” poking fun at Caitlyn Jenner, formally known as Bruce Jenner.
Even with the uncomfortable moments, the 2015 CMA awards provided a night of entertainment for all involved. This year’s surprise winner went to Chris Stapleton, who received three wins for three category nominations. In fact he has topped the Billboard Charts following the awards ceremony, and it is likely we will be seeing (or hearing) more of him in 2016. Country music fans only have to wait a whole year before the next Country Music Awards. Good thing the CMA Country Christmas special airs this December!