Luke Bryan is speaking out about Garth Brooks‘ surprise announcement that he was removing himself from the list of nominees for Entertainer of the Year, ahead of the upcoming CMA Awards. Luke, who won the CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year twice (in both 2014 and 2015), was not nominated in 2019, when Garth won, beating out Eric Church, Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, and Carrie Underwood, with Carrie expected to take home the honor.
“My thought is, if we go for a long period of time and Carrie Underwood never wins a CMA Entertainer of the Year, that’s quite disturbing for me because she’s done everything you can do to win it in my opinion — and that goes for Eric Church,” Luke shared with Everything Nash and other media outlets.
Still, Luke isn’t sure the answer is Garth removing his name from the list of nominees, and cites his own two wins as examples.
“I really felt like the best entertainer that year,” he shared. “There have been years that I felt like the best entertainer and I didn’t win. But that’s just the way it goes. I think at some point all artists — I think maybe in Garth’s mind — he probably could be taking people’s slots and how long do you want to do that?”
Luke cited the hypothetical example of winning Album of the Year every year, even though that is a category he has surprisingly never won at the CMA Awards, and wondered if he repeatedly won that category, if it would be more fair for him to withdraw his name or continue.
“Then I don’t necessarily know if my album is the best,” Luke said. “I’m just good at winning them. Should you move over and let other people [win]? It’s a tricky little thing.”
Garth, who announced that he was withdrawing his name during a virtual press conference, admitted he also expected Carrie to win Entertainer of the Year.
“You guys pretty much saw what happened after the CMAs all the way through the new year,” Garth said. “It wasn’t fun. Let’s put it that way, okay? And at my age, what I do is fun stuff. But there was one tweet in there that really stuck in my head, that said, ‘Hey man, this guy, why doesn’t he step down and just have the entertainer be for the next generation?’ 100 percent agree. 100 percent agreed.”
Luke may have mixed feelings on Garth withdrawing his name, but his fellow singers Steve Wariner and Blake Shelton do not. The two country music stars both spoke out on social media, claiming Garth should keep his name in the running.
“If you’ve ever seen Garth Brooks live, you know why he consistently wins entertainer of the year. There is no one as big as Garth, but more importantly there is no one as kind,” Steve wrote on social media. “I have been fortunate enough to call Garth a close friend for years, and I know who he is off stage as well; one of the kindest people on the entire planet. Garth; you are not just entertainer of the year, you are a legend forever, and you really earned it. This is a shame!”
“Agreed Steve…. He is Garth Brooks,” Blake commented. “GARTH BROOKS!!! I don’t give a sh– what anyone says. ANYONE. Entertainer of the century.”