The 2024 CMT Awards included performances by Cody Johnson, Bailey Zimmerman, Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum, Jordan Davis & more along with special tribute to Toby Keith. Hosted by Kelsea Ballerini, the special event is the only entirely fan-voted award show in the country music world, honoring the genre’s best and most fan-favorite artists.
Heading into the show, several artists shared the spot for top nominees including Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, Cody Johnson, and this year’s host, Kelsea Ballerini – all with three nominees each. It was Ballerini’s fourth consecutive year and she confirmed, last year hosting the show.
Of those nominations, Wilson, Jelly Roll, Johnson, and Ballerini were all up for the night’s biggest honor: Video of the Year. The category began with 16 nominees. After the first round of voting, it was narrowed down to six and after the second round of voting it was cut to only three nominees – Cody Johnson for “The Painter, Jelly Roll for “Need A Favor” and Kelsea Ballerini for “If You Go Down (I’m Goin Down Too)”.
Kicking off the show was the very fitting performance of “That’s Texas” by Cody Johnson. Following Kelsea Ballerini’s opening monologue where she poked fun at her viral reaction at this year’s GRAMMY’s by ‘mind-reading’ fellow artists Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Trisha Yearwood, Keith Urban, and even her boyfriend Chase Stoke.
Next up, presenters Montana Jordan & Emily Osment from the TV show “Young Sheldon” introduced Megan Moroney who performed “No Caller ID”. Following Moroney, Emmy-winning actor Paul Walter Houser (Blackbird) presented the Collaborative Video of the Year to Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton for “We Don’t Fight Anymore”. In her acceptance speech, Pearce honored her video director Alexa Campbell who years ago shared with Pearce that it was her dream to become a director, to which Pearce responded by inviting her to direct her videos.
Actress Amber Riley introduced Parker McCollum who sang his hit song “Burn It Down” which is also the #1 song in the country this week. McCollum brought out special guest Brittney Spencer to perform the chart topper with him.
Megan Moroney & Max Terriet (Fire Country) presented the next two awards: Breakthrough Female Video of the Year & Breakthrough Male Video of the Year. Ashley Cooke took home her first CMT Award and her first award ever with “your place” and Warren Zeiders won for “Pretty Little Poison”.
Wanting her own comeback song much like the success that Luke Combs had with “Fast Car”, Kelsea Ballerini began singing “Come to My Window” when singer Melissa Etheridge joined her on stage. The two then introduced the next CMT Crossroads collaboration: Jordan Davis & NEEDTOBREATHE performing their mash-up of “Brother” & “Next Thing You Know”
Actress Jane Seymour presented Trisha Yearwood with the first-ever June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award. This award recognizes artists for their humanitarian work as a way to honor June Carter Cash whose humanitarian work was an integral part of who she was. Yearwood “lives and breathes that same philosophy” as shown through her work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, The Carter Project, and The Country Music Hall of Fame, to name only a few as she continues to advocate for new artists as well. In a beautiful acceptance speech where she compares her own life of being a part of a powerhouse couple while also not forgetting to shine her own light, Yearwood stated that she hoped this award reminds us all to “be a little bit less about me, and a little bit more about us”.
Jelly Roll then joined Ballerini to introduce Lainey Wilson who performed her current single, “Country’s Cool Again”. Following this, CMT’s Cody Alan introduced Bailey Zimmerman who performed “Where It Ends”.
Emma Roberts then introduced Keith Urban who performed his new single “Straight Line”. Carly Pearce then presented the CMT Performance of the Year Award to Jelly Roll who won for his performance of “Need A Favor” – the song he sang about a year ago on the 2023 CMT Awards and the first time he sang the song on live television.
Next up, Parmalee introduced Sam Hunt who performed his latest single “Locked Up”. Then, James Van Der Beek introduced the host herself for her new, reimagined version of her now 10-year-old first single “Love Me Like You Mean It”.
Presenting Duo/Group Video of the Year were four women who are part of CMT’s ‘Next Women of Country’ initiative and from Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” Album: Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, and Brittney Spencer. Dan and Shay won the award for the category for their hit “Save Me The Trouble”.
Next, it was time for what would be an incredibly heart-warming tribute to country legend Toby Keith who lost his battle to cancer just a couple of months ago. In a mixture of anecdotes and performances, friends Roger Clemens and Sammy Hagar shared memories of their friend who proved to be exactly the witty, hilarious, and wholesome man that everyone believed him to be. Performances included “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” by Brooks & Dunn, “I Love This Bar” by Sammy Hagar, and “How Do You Like Me Now” by Lainey Wilson – all of which were played with Keith’s long-time band. During the performances, you were able to see everyone in the audience holding a red solo cup along with the band members across their set. At the end of Wilson’s performance, Clemens returned to the stage to Thank Keith’s wife and kids for sharing him with the world and to ask everyone to raise their Red Solo Cups with him as he said “Whiskey for my men” to which the entire room responded together with “Beer for my horses”.
The next few performances included Old Dominion & Megan Moroney performing their duet “Can’t Break Up Now”, Trisha Yearwood debuting the first single off of her brand new album that she fully co-wrote: “Put It In A Song”, and Dasha’s viral single “Austin”.
Minnie Driver presented the award for Male Video of the Year to Jelly Roll which marked his second win of the night for the same song – “Need A Favor”.
Celebrating 25 years of making country music, Little Big Town took the stage with Sugarland as the two groups came together to debut their take on Phil Collins’s “Take Me Home”. The phenomenal performance showcased the incredible blend of six exceptional voices. This collaboration would also foreshadow the future tour together for the two bands – hitting the road this fall.
Gayle King then presented Female Video of the Year to Lainey Wilson. Before doing so she also joked about how earlier in the night Jelly Roll alluded to the late night that he would be having tonight, despite the early interview he has on CBS tomorrow morning.
Shortly after, Billy Bob Thronton (Landman) would present the biggest honor of the night: Video of the Year. With his third win of the night, Jelly Roll sweeps all of his nominated categories. Since he was already able to thank many of the necessary people in his previous two speeches, he used his final acceptance speech to warn Gayle King that he would indeed be a little late to his interview in the morning.
Enjoying the moment and celebrating the incredible night he had at the CMT Awards, Jelly Roll closed out the show with none other than – “Need A Favor”.
You can find the full list of winners and nominees below + follow us on Instagram for more from the show.
CMT digital-first performance of the year
Musical performance from a production, series, or livestream created for CMT digital/social channels; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo).
- Scotty McCreery – “It Matters To Her” (from CMT Stages)
- Chase Rice – “Goodnight Nancy” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
- Dylan Scott – “Don’t Close Your Eyes (Keith Whitley Cover)” (from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions)
- Megan Moroney – “I’m Not Pretty” (from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions)
- Nate Smith – “Whiskey On You” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
- Stephen Wilson Jr. – “Year to Be Young 1994” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
- The Castellows – “I Know It Will Never End” (from CMT Studio Sessions)
Collaborative video of the year
Best video from a collaboration; awarded to the artists.
- Carly Pearce feat. Chris Stapleton – “We Don’t Fight Anymore”
- Ella Langley feat. Koe Wetzel – “That’s Why We Fight”
- Jon Pardi, Luke Bryan – “Cowboys And Plowboys”
- Justin Moore & Priscilla Block – “You, Me And Whiskey”
- Lukas Nelson + Promise of The Real feat. Lainey Wilson – “More Than Friends”
- Mickey Guyton feat. Kane Brown – “Nothing Compares To You”
- Old Dominion & Megan Moroney – “Can’t Break Up Now”
Breakthrough female video of the year, presented by Walt Disney World
Best video from a female artist’s major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist.
- Ashley Cooke – “your place”
- Anne Wilson – “Rain In The Rearview”
- Brittney Spencer – “Bigger Than The Song”
- Tigirlily Gold – “Shoot Tequila”
Breakthrough male video of the year, presented by Walt Disney World
Best video from a male artist’s major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist.
- Warren Zeiders – “Pretty Little Poison”
- Chayce Beckham – “23”
- Tyler Childers – “In Your Love”
- Zach Bryan – “Oklahoma Smokeshow”
CMT performance of the year
Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo).
- Jelly Roll – “Need a Favor” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
- Amber Riley – “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” (from CMT Smashing Glass)
- Bret Michaels & Chris Janson – “Nothing But a Good Time” (from CMT Crossroads)
- Cody Johnson – “Human” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
- Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter – “Thinking ‘Bout You” (from CMT Campfire Sessions)
- Kelsea Ballerini – “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” (from 2023 CMT Music Awards)
Duo/group video of the year
Best video by a duo or group; awarded to the artists.
- Dan + Shay – “Save Me The Trouble”
- Brothers Osborne – “Nobody’s Nobody”
- Old Dominion – “Memory Lane”
- Parmalee – “Girl In Mine”
- The War And Treaty – “Have You A Heart”
- Tigirlily Gold – “Shoot Tequila”
Male video of the year
Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist.
- Jelly Roll – “Need A Favor”
- Bailey Zimmerman – “Religiously”
- Cody Johnson – “The Painter”
- HARDY – “Truck Bed”
- Jordan Davis – “Next Thing You Know”
- Luke Combs – “Fast Car (Official Live Video)”
- Morgan Wallen – “Last Night (One Record At A Time Sessions)”
List of Winners:
Female video of the year
Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist.
- Lainey Wilson – “Watermelon Moonshine”
- Ashley McBryde – “Light On In The Kitchen”
- Gabby Barrett – “Glory Days”
- Kacey Musgraves – “Deeper Well”
- Kelsea Ballerini – “Penthouse”
- Megan Moroney – “I’m Not Pretty”
- Reba McEntire – “Seven Minutes In Heaven”
Video of the year
- Jelly Roll – “Need A Favor”
- Cody Johnson – “The Painter”
- Kelsea Ballerini – “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)”
(Runner-Up)
- Ashley McBryde – “Light On In The Kitchen”
- HARDY – “Truck Bed”
- Lainey Wilson – “Watermelon Moonshine”
(Remaining of the original 16 nominees)
- Brandy Clark feat. Brandi Carlile – “Dear Insecurity”
- Brothers Osborne – “Nobody’s Nobody”
- Darius Rucker – “Fires Don’t Start Themselves”
- Jason Aldean – “Let Your Boys Be Country”
- Jordan Davis – “Next Thing You Know”
- Kacey Musgraves – “Deeper Well”
- Mickey Guyton feat. Kane Brown – “Nothing Compares To You”
- Parmalee – “Gonna Love You”
- Tyler Childers – “In Your Love”
- Zach Bryan – “Nine Ball”
