CMA New Artist of the Year Nominee Bailey Zimmerman Credits Perseverance for His Rise to Fame: ‘Keep Believing’

Since arriving on the country music scene in 2022 with his breakout debut single, “Fall In Love,” Bailey Zimmerman has gone on to do the unthinkable. He’s earned several No.1 hits, many of which have been certified multi-platinum, he’s headlined a sold-out tour, been a part of one of the biggest country music tours in history with Morgan Wallen, and continues to take his career to new heights with each new release. 

Earlier this week, he celebrated the chart-topping success of his hits “Where It Ends” and “Religiously” with a party hosted at BMI’s Nashville office. Ahead of the rooftop celebration, Zimmerman reflected on his career during a conversation with Country Now and other outlets and admitted that he is still in disbelief over his success. 

“Dude, it’s so weird. It’s like, to be honest, it’s the weirdest thing in the whole world because you watch movies growing up about this stuff and then all of a sudden, I look back we’re done with the Morgan Wallen tour. That’s so weird,” he admitted. “I feel like I just started that and I feel like I was just starting to learn how to do stuff and now I have stuff that blows up on my stage and we have a crazy show and we’re touring the world in planes and tour buses and I have a house. Dude. What? It’s so crazy. So yeah, again, another reason to celebrate, because I remember in 2020, I called my mom, I wanted to move out and she was like, you really think you can move out? You can’t afford to move out.”

He went on to recall how expensive everything was and his mom advising him that he may not be able to afford a place of his own. However, he trusted his instincts and never gave up on his dreams.

“Fast forward three years. This is where I’m at. Testament. You’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to keep believing because you’ll never know if you quit. But if you keep going, you will know. I mean, you have a way better percent chance of winning if you just keep going and don’t care what people think and just keep on doing your thing. And this is a testament to that. You just got to keep doing what you got to do. It’s crazy….Keep believing. Just believe.” 

Recently, Zimmerman had the opportunity to see another dream come true when he received his first-ever CMA Awards nomination. This was another pinch-me moment for Zimmerman, who admits “a lot of things” were going through his mind when he received the news that he was nominated for CMA New Artist of the Year. 

“It’s hard to think of yourself as that because it can look like I live this movie life, but I live such a normal life that it’s hard to think of. It feels like I’m watching my own movie through my phone. I’m like, ‘dude, this can’t be real. I can’t believe I am even a part of it,’” he admitted. “I feel like we have so much work to do. I just got here and to be recognized so quickly was almost unbelievable.” 

At the end of the day, he said he feels so “blessed” to have been welcomed into the country music community with open arms. 

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“I would say a lot of things went through my head, but honestly, just blessed that everybody’s so welcoming because I was so nervous coming into town that I was like, ‘man, I don’t know if they’re going to, a kid just started writing and just started singing,’ and I didn’t know how much respect I would get, and it just feels like man, they’re showing a tip of their hat to me by nominating me. So it’s just crazy. I’m blessed. It’s crazy.” 

The “Holding On” singer is nominated alongside Zach Top, Megan Moroney, Shaboozey, Nate Smith, and Mitchell Tenpenny in the CMA New Artist of the Year category. The winner will be revealed during the 58th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Hosted by Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan, and Peyton Manning, the show will air live from 8:00-11:00 PM/EST on ABC, with streaming available the next day on Hulu.