“Heart Like a Truck” singer Lainey Wilson led the nominees for Wednesday’s 2023 CMT Music Awards with four nominations, including two in the video marquee of the year category.
The fan favorite will go head-to-head with 15 other music videos in the main category during the annual event. fan voted award ceremonywhich will air live on CBS on April 2. Other Video of the Year nominees include Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Carrie Underwood and “Bonfire at Tina’s” collaborators Ashley. McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark, and Pillbox Patti.
Wilson, whose “Heart Like a Truck” is nominated for video of the year, is also co-nominated with HARDY for their “wait in the truck” video.
While some award shows are moving towards gender-neutral categories, the CMT Music Awards further divided its Breakthrough Video of the Year category into male and female subcategories. The expansion, CMT said, is meant to “further celebrate the new talent in country music. This year, 12 nominees are recognized in the “twin categories.”
This year’s other top nominees include Cody Johnson, first-time nominee Jelly Roll and Kane Brown, who each earned three nominations on Wednesday. Brown, who is nominated with his wife Katelyn Brown for “Thank God,” will co-host the ceremony with singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. (Ballerini is nominated twice for “Heartfirst.”)
With 25 wins, country superstar Underwood has the record for the most video wins of the year and has the most wins of any artist at the awards show. The “Hate My Heart” and “Ghost Story” singer is nominated twice this year for the songs’ respective music videos and is set to perform at the awards show. In November, she and Ballerini announced that the ceremony would be moving from Nashville, Tenn., to Austin, where it would take place for the first time.
The Judds, who memorably reunited to perform “Love Can Build a Bridge” at last year’s ceremony just weeks before matriarch Naomi Judd’s death, are among 10 nominees for CMT Performance of the Year. The category recognizes a musical performance in a television show, series or variety special on CMT.
Winners will be selected by fans, who can vote daily in all nine categories at CMT website.
These are the 2023 nominees:
video of the year
Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark and Pillbox Patti – “Tina’s Bonfire”
Blake Shelton – “No Body”
Carrie Underwood – “I Hate My Heart”
Cody Johnson – “Human”
Elle King feat. Dierks Bentley – “Worth a Try”
Gabby Barrett – “Pick Me Up”
HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson – “wait in the truck”
Jimmie Allen – “Down at Home”
Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown – “Thank God”
Keith Urban – “Wild Hearts”
Kelsea Ballerini – “Heartfirst”
Little Big Town – “Rich Man”
Luke Bryan – “Country On”
Luke Combs – “The Kind of Love We Make”
Morgan Wallen – “You Try”
Walker Hayes – “AA”
Female video of the year.
Carly Pearce – “What She Didn’t Do”
Carrie Underwood – “Ghost Story”
Gabby Barrett – “Pick Me Up”
Kelsea Ballerini – “Heartfirst”
Lainey Wilson – “Heart Like a Truck”
Maren Morris – “Humble Quest”
Miranda Lambert – “Acting”
Male Video of the Year.
Bailey Zimmerman – “Rock and a Hard Place”
Cody Johnson – “Human”
Cole Swindell – “She had me at Heads Carolina”
Jelly Roll – “Son of a Sinner”
Kane Brown – “How I Love Country Music”
Luke Combs – “The Kind of Love We Make”
Morgan Wallen – “Wasted on You”
Group/Duo Video of the Year
Dan + Shay – “You (Performance Video)”
Lady A – “Summer State of Mind”
Little Big Town – “Hell Yeah”
Parmalee – “Take My Name”
The War and the Treaty – “How Love is Made”
Zac Brown Band – “Out in the Middle”
Breakthrough Female Video of the Year
Avery Anna – “Narcissistic”
Kylie Morgan – “If he wanted to, he would”
MacKenzie Porter – “Pickup”
Megan Moroney – “The Tennessee Orange”
Morgan Wade – “Wild Days”
Tiera Kennedy – “I Found It In You”
Male Breakthrough Video of the Year
Bailey Zimmerman – “Fall in Love”
Corey Kent – ”Wild Like Her”
Drake Milligan – “Sounds like something I would do”
Jackson Dean – “Don’t Come Looking”
Jelly Roll – “Son of a Sinner”
Nate Smith – “Whiskey on You”
Collaborative Video of the Year.
Elle King feat. Dierks Bentley – “Worth a Try”
HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson – “wait in the truck”
Ingrid Andress with Sam Hunt – “Wishful Drinking”
Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown – “Thank God”
midland feat. Jon Pardi – “Longneck Way to Go”
Russell Dickerson feat. Jake Scott – “She Likes It”
Thomas Rhett and Katy Perry – “Where We Started”
CMT Performance of the Year
Black Pumas & Mickey Guyton – “Colors” (from the 2022 CMT Music Awards)
Chris Stapleton – “Whenever You Come Around” (from “CMT Giants: Vince Gill”)
Cody Johnson – “‘Til You Can’t” (from the 2022 CMT Music Awards)
Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson – “Never Say Never” (from the 2022 CMT Music Awards)
Darius Rucker – “Let Her Cry” (from “CMT Storytellers”)
Emmy Russell & Lukas Nelson – “Lay Me Down” (from “Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Loretta Lynn”)
LeAnn Rimes with Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce – “One way Ticket” (from “CMT Crossroads: LeAnn Rimes & Friends”)
Keith Urban – “Wild Hearts” (from the 2022 CMT Music Awards)
The Judds – “Love Can Build a Bridge” (from the 2022 CMT Music Awards)
Wynonna Judd & Brandi Carlile – “The Rose” (from “Naomi Judd: A River of Time Celebration”)
CMT digital-first performance of the year
Charley Crockett – “Time of the Cottonwood Trees” (from “CMT Campfire Sessions”)
Chris Young – “Gettin’ You Home” (from “CMT Stages”)
Ingrid Andress – “Wishful Drinking” (from “CMT Studio Sessions”)
Jelly Roll – “Son of a Sinner” (from “CMT All Access”)
Megan Moroney – “Tennessee Orange” (from “CMT Viral to Verified”)
Scotty McCreery – “Damn Strait” (from “CMT Campfire Sessions”)
