Carrie Underwood could leave the CMA Awards tonight with the Entertainer of the Year trophy, a category she shares with Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen. The Entertainer of the Year category, unfortunately, typically goes to a male artist, with Taylor Swift the last female to take home the night’s highest honor, in 2011, two years after her first win in 2009.
Before Swift, the Dixie Chicks won it in 2000, with Shania Twain taking home the Entertainer of the Year trophy in 1999. Before Twain, it was a male artist who claimed the title since 1986, when Reba McEntire was crowned the winner.
Underwood admits that she, of course, would love to be crowned the winner. But even to hear her name in the list of nominees was already a massive validation for her.
“It is, obviously, such an honor to be nominated in Entertainer of the Year,” Underwood shares with her record label. “That’s such a tough category to be in, ‘cause there’s just so — I don’t even want to call it competition, there’s just so many hard-working artists out there that are just pouring themselves and their time and their energy and their love and their artistry into what they do.
“To even be in the final category is just absolutely amazing. And hopefully, above all, we can all just remember that it’s a celebration of a great year in country music and in our careers as artists,” she adds. “We’ll just see what happens, but definitely excited to be in that category.”
Underwood is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, alongside Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce and Lainey Wilson. It’s a category Underwood has been nominated in a total of 16 times, with five wins to her credit. While she would love to claim her sixth trophy in that category, the 39-year-old insists she already feels like a winner just be among other great singers.
“I feel so blessed to be a female in country music,” Underwood says. “I love country music so much, and I feel like we have so many talented, gorgeous, amazing females in our genre of music. So, just to be a female in country music is amazing in and of itself, and obviously to be in the Female Vocalist category at the CMAs is pretty darn special. I feel like, especially with this group of ladies, everybody just lifts each other up, roots for each other and supports each other, so I’m very blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible ladies.”
Underwood was also nominated with Jason Aldean, for Musical Event of the Year, with their “If I Didn’t Love You” duet. That trophy went to Pearce and McBryde instead.
Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning will host the 2022 CMA Awards. The show will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 9, at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.