The 2024 CMA Awards are less than a week away, and no one is more excited about the live show than the three hosts: Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson and Peyton Manning.
It’s Bryan who is the veteran host, helming the show solo in 2021, before adding Manning in 2022 and 2023, with Wilson joining the two men for this year’s event.
“I went by myself the first year, and they just keep adding people,” Bryan jokes during the trio’s first CMA Awards rehearsal. “We love it. Peyton and I have had a great time, and then to bring Lainey and let Lainey be a part of it, it’s gonna be so fun … This is our first day together, so we’re starting to kind of feel the energy that we’re going to be able to bring to the stage the night of the CMA Awards.”
Wilson was the big winner at last year’s CMA Awards, walking away with five trophies, including the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year. Adding her to the lineup is a win-win for Manning.
“Obviously last year, Lainey spent as much time on the stage as Luke and I did as the hosts, so it’s only fitting that she comes back to the place where she belongs,” Manning quips. “It was really special to be there for her special night last year at the CMA Awards, and so when I heard the news, I was thrilled. I’m not sure I belong up here with these talented musicians, but I’m honored that they let me still hang around. It’s still the greatest night in country music, and being a huge country music fan, to be able to co-host this with Lainey and Luke, it’s obviously a big thrill for me.”
This might be Wilson’s first time hosting the CMA Awards, but she is already eager to have fun with her two co-hosts, hopefully at their expense.
“I feel like these guys, they don’t take themselves too seriously, and that’s what I want,” Wilson says. “I want us to just get up there and have fun and mess with each other, and give each other a hard time. If I don’t give you hard time, that means I don’t like you. If I’m not messing with you, there’s a problem, so I just want us to get up there and celebrate the biggest night of the year. I’m excited just to be invited and have a seat out in the audience, much less get to host the thing with these boys.”
Manning, the only host who isn’t a musician, still appreciates the significance of the CMA Awards, both for new and established artists.
“It’s a life-changing night for musicians that are going to win certain awards … I can appreciate the significance of that moment,” the former pro football player reflects. “Just to be a witness, just to kind of be a fly on the wall. I remember I had a 20-second visit with Lainey backstage after she won Entertainer of the Year, and I could just see the emotion on her face. It’s really cool for me to be able to witness that. I just have so much appreciation and respect for these artists, their work ethic, their journey that they have been on to get to this moment. To have that view from backstage and onstage, that’s the best part about it for me.”
It was only two years ago when Wilson received her first CMA Awards nominations, and even she is a bit surprised by how far she has come in such a short amount of time.
“It’s like a country music family reunion for me now,” Wilson reflects. “A lot of these people that are nominated and winning, they’re people that have helped me along the way, and let me open up shows for them, wrote a song with me, used to come over to my camper trailer and write music with me. It’s just a big time to celebrate each other.”
In addition to hosting, Bryan and Wilson will each perform, along with Luke Combs, Eric Church, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Dierks Bentley, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Ashley McBryde, Chris Stapleton, Thomas Rhett Riley Green, Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, Ella Langley, Noah Kahan, Brooks & Dunn, Megan Moroney and Bailey Zimmerman.
See a list of nominees here. The 2024 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 20, on ABC. The ceremony will also stream on Hulu the next day.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of the CMA / Brian Bowen Smith