What to Know About the 2025 Nashville Songwriter Awards

The 8th Annual Nashville Songwriter Awards will take place on September 23, 2025 at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. The event, hosted by Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) along with presenting partner City National Bank, will honor Alabama and Brenda Lee and will recognize the top songs of the past year. 

NSAI has revealed the first round of performers set to to take the stage, including Jason Aldean, Kelly Archer, Drew Baldridge, Marc Beeson, Johnny Clawson, Travis Denning, Jessie Jo Dillon, Josh Dorr, Aaron Eshuis, Tyler Hubbard, Lalo Guzman, Cameron Jaymes, Tony Lane, Josh Miller, Lukas Nelson, Tim Nichols, Old Dominion, Josh Phillips, Daniel Ross, Chris Stevens, Kyle Sturrock, Chris Tompkins, Trisha Yearwood, and Jimmy Yeary. 

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This special event will recognize Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Songwriter-Artist of the Year, and the 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written awards These honors are awarded to songwriters whose work is so well-crafted that their peers in the industry say they wish they had written it themselves. The Song of the Year award goes to the song that receives the most votes in the “10 Songs I Wish I’d Written” selection process..

Additionally, the honor of Legendary Song will be awarded. Introduced in 2024, the Legendary Song award was created to recognize a single song that stands out as truly iconic from a specific era. For this year’s award, songs released between 1968 and 1984 were eligible. The NSAI Board of Directors selected 10 influential tracks from that period, and professional members anonymously voted to determine the top legendary song.

Teddy Gentry, Randy Owen, and the late Jeff Cook of ALABAMA will be honored with the Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award, NSAI’s highest recognition. The award celebrates the band’s monumental impact on the American songbook. With 43 No. 1 hits and more than 80 million records sold, ALABAMA remains one of the most influential groups in country music history, continuing to inspire generations of songwriters and artists. Past recipients of this prestigious honor include Alan Jackson (2024), Bobby Braddock (2023), Garth Brooks (2022), Bill Anderson (2018), and Willie Nelson (2013).

Brenda Lee will receive the NSAI President’s Keystone Award, an honor given to individuals who have made a lasting impact on the music industry for the benefit of all songwriters. Selected personally by NSAI Board President Lee Thomas Miller, Lee is being recognized for her groundbreaking achievements, legendary career, and undeniable influence on music history. She signed her first record deal at age 11, has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, and was the first woman inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame. Among her many milestones, Lee also holds the record for the longest span between No. 1 hits—from “I’m Sorry” in 1960 to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” topping the charts in November 2023.

Tickets for the 8th Annual Nashville Songwriter Awards are on sale now.