Feature Story
Mark your calendars and get ready for Music City to buzz with cross-genre performances from some of country music's hottest stars at the 2022 CMT Music Awards, airing live from Music City in Nashville Monday, April 11, on CBS. Co-hosted by singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini (“Nashville”) and Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Anthony Mackie (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”), this celebration marks the first time CBS has hosted country music's only fan-voted awards show.
Ballerini has held the host designation before, but Mackie co-hosts this year for the first time ever. This is far from his first time in the spotlight, however. Most famous as the superhero Falcon in Marvel's Captain America franchise, last year Mackie presented the Video of the Year award during the star-studded ceremony.
“I had the pleasure of presenting at last year's CMT Music Awards and received the warmest welcome from the country music community and the city of Nashville,” Mackie said in a statement. “I can't wait to get back to Music City to co-host this year's awards with the amazing Kelsea Ballerini.”
“Miss Me More” singer Ballerini added, “This year is especially cool to be a part of as CMT grows into a network spot and expands for even more fans to get involved. It's going to be a big one and I can't wait!”
Currently, Carrie Underwood holds the top spot for most CMT Music Awards wins overall with 23, and the “American Idol”-created star is again nominated in not one, but two categories: Video of the Year, an award Underwood has received nine times to date, and Collaborative Video of the Year for “If I Didn't Love You” with Jason Aldean. (On March 7, the pair took home the ACM Award for Single of the Year.)
One of Underwood's top competitors over the years has been the one and only Taylor Swift, who won the coveted Video of the Year award three times between 2008 and 2011. Swift is up against Underwood at the CMTs once more, this time for Collaborative Video of the Year for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault),” a duet with Chris Stapleton.
A total of 12 videos have been selected for Video of the Year as of writing, including Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson's “Never Say Never,” Kacey Musgraves' “justified” and Brandi Carlile's “Right on Time” (the latter of which also made waves at this year's Grammys), but that total will be reduced to eight semifinalists by April 4. As of show night, April 11, the top four finalists will be announced before the winner is chosen via social media and revealed during the closing of the live telecast.
In other categories, last year's Female Video of the Year winner, Gabby Barrett, is back to defend her status with “Footprints on the Moon.” One of her opponents is the popular Miranda Lambert, who has previously won five times in the category, for her video for “If I Was a Cowboy.”
Male Video of the Year, meanwhile, went to Kane Brown last year for “Worship You,” and he's back once again, hoping to claim the prize this time for “One Mississippi.” Sharing the category with him is Luke Bryan for “Waves,” Luke Combs for “Forever After All” and Thomas Rhett for “Country Again,” among others.
The category of Duo/ Group Video of the Year also sees some familiar faces this year as both Old Dominion (“I Was on a Boat That Day”) and Zac Brown Band (“Same Boat”) compete for the honor once more.
Across all categories this year, the CMT Music Awards are taking big steps towards inclusivity and representation, with three of the year's top five nominees being Black artists (they are Brown, Mickey Guyton and mononymous artist Breland, for those curious). This diversification has also made its way into the genres represented, as this year's awards also welcome rapper Nelly (“Lil Bit” with Florida Georgia Line), pop/rock band LANY's Paul Klein
(“I Quit Drinking” with host Ballerini), soul icon Gladys Knight (“Friendship Train” with Guyton and Breland) and R&B artist H.E.R. (“Hold On” with Chris Stapleton).