Despite Ban From Several Categories, Morgan Wallen Could Still Win a CMA Award

The nominees for the 55th Annual CMA Awards were unveiled on Thursday morning and despite being banned from individual categories,…

Lauren Jo Black

| Posted on

September 9, 2021

10:41 am

Morgan Wallen; Photo Courtesy ABC

The nominees for the 55th Annual CMA Awards were unveiled on Thursday morning and despite being banned from individual categories, Morgan Wallen received a single nomination in the Album of the Year category.

Wallen’s record breaking sophomore release, Dangerous: The Double Album, was included in the Album of the Year category alongside Carly Pearce’s 29, Eric Church’s Heart, Brothers Osborne’s Skeletons and Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over.

According to the CMA Awards, the Album of the Year award goes to the artist(s), producer(s) and mix engineer(s) involved in the album-making process. In this case, if Dangerous is crowned Album of the Year, Wallen and his collaborators, Dave Cohen, Matt Dragstrem, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome and Joey Moi , will each receive an award.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for… congratulations to all of this year’s #CMAawards nominees! ✨

Watch Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 8/7c on @ABCNetwork as winners are revealed LIVE on Country Music’s Biggest Night! https://t.co/PymLma7xTd pic.twitter.com/jQIMdby2dF

— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) September 9, 2021

After a video of Wallen using a racial slur surfaced online earlier this year, the Country Music Association announced that Wallen would be ineligible for individual CMA Awards categories, including Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. However, the CMA Board of Directors amended the eligibility to allow Wallen’s collaborators to be nominated, “so as to not limit the opportunity for other credited collaborators,” according to Catharine McNelly, a CMA spokeswoman.

Therefore, Wallen was eligible to receive nominations in categories that honor artistic works such as Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year.

Morgan Wallen; Dangerous: The Double Album

The Album of the Year nomination for Dangerous: The Double Album, marks Wallen’s first Album of the Year nomination and his first country music awards nomination this year.

Upon its release, Dangerous topped the charts for 10 consecutive weeks and shattered streaming records.

The 55th Annual CMA Awards will air Wednesday, November 10 on ABC.

Written by

Lauren Jo Black

Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.