The 2022 CMT Music Awards, the 56th edition of the awards ceremony, were held in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

on April 11, 2022, at the

Nashville Municipal Auditorium The Nashville Municipal Auditorium is an indoor sports and concert venue in Nashville, Tennessee. It opened October 7, 1962 with both an arena and exhibition hall. The former exhibition hall has been permanent home to the Musicians Hall of Fame ...

and locations in and around Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony was hosted by

Kelsea Ballerini Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...

(virtually),

Kane Brown Kane Allen Brown (born October 21, 1993) is an American singer. Brown first came to the attention of the public through social media. He released his first EP, titled '' Closer'', in June 2015, and followed it with a new single, " Used to Love ...

, and

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his per ...

. The ceremony marked the final appearance and public performance of the country music duo,

The Judds The Judds were an American country music duo composed of lead vocalist Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. The duo signed to RCA Nashville in 1983 and released six studio albums between then and 1991. The Judds were one of the most success ...

, as

Naomi Judd Naomi Judd (born Diana Ellen Judd; January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022) was an American singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna (born Christina Claire) formed the duo known as The Judds, which became a very successful country ...

died on April 30.

Background

The

CMT Music Awards The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The awards ceremony is held every year in Nashville, Tennessee, and broadcast live on the CMT (Country Music Television) channel. Voting takes p ...

is country music's only entirely fan-voted awards show. Following the long-time CBS produced

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

departed from the network, Paramount Global announced that the live televised ceremony would move to CBS from CMT. While CBS will carry the award show live, CMT will have week-long special programming and events capped by exclusive "director’s cut" airing of the ceremony on CMT.

Judds Reunion

On April 1, CMT announced that

Wynonna Wynonna Ellen Judd or simply Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964) is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country singers. In all, she has had 19 No. 1 singles, incl ...

and

would be reuniting for a performance on the 2022 CMT Music Awards. The reunion comes ahead of the duo's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in May and Final Tour in the Fall. They performed their hit song, “

Love Can Build a Bridge "Love Can Build a Bridge" is a song written by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet, and John Barlow Jarvis, and recorded by American country music duo the Judds. It was released in 1990 as the second single and title track from their album of the same ...

,” from the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. The performance marked The Judds’ only nationally televised award show performance in more than twenty years. The reunion performance was met with positive reception. People Magazine called the performance "stunning", and Billboard called the reunion a "glorious return and a welcome comeback". This would be the final live performance for Naomi Judd and for The Judds as a duo; on April 30, 2022, just nineteen days after their performance, and the day before their induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Wynonna and

Ashley Judd Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...

announced that Naomi had died.

Ballerini tests positive for COVID-19

On the day of the live telecast, Ballerini announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19. She was asymptomatic, and said she would be able to co-host and perform from her home, with help from CMT and CBS.

, who hosted the previous year's ceremony with Ballerini, would step in and shared the main stage with Mackie as a co-host.

Winners and nominees

Nominees were announced on March 16, 2022. Winners are in bold.

Performers

Performances include both the live performances shown on CBS and extended cut performance shown exclusively on CMT. Ram Trucks Side Stage performances *

Priscilla Block Priscilla Block (born August 11, 1995) is an American country music singer–songwriter. Upon graduating high school, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in the country industry. In 2020, Block wrote and recorded a song that appe ...

Breland Breland is a village in Lindesnes municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located just over the border from the neighboring Kristiansand municipality. The village of Øyslebø lies about to the southwest of Breland. There are about ...

Jessie James Decker Jessica Rose James Decker (born April 12, 1988) is an American country pop singer. At age 15, after auditioning for and being rejected by most of the country labels in Nashville, Tennessee, Decker began working with Carla Wallace of Big Yello ...

Parker McCollum Parker Yancey McCollum (born June 15, 1992) is an American Americana (music), Americana and country music, country singer-songwriter based in Texas. The owner of PYM Music, he released his first single and EP in 2013, and his full-length debut a ...

Elvie Shane Elvie Shane (born May 22, 1988) is an American country music singer. He is signed to BBR Music Group and in 2020 he released his debut single "My Boy", which has charted on Country Airplay. Shane was born in Caneyville, Kentucky, where he grew u ...

and

Caitlyn Smith Caitlyn Smith (born June 13, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She was raised in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Smith's debut album ''Starfire'' was released on Monument Records on January 19, 2018. Her second studio album, ''Supern ...

Presenters

On April 7, 2022, CMT announced a list of presenters, their exact roles to be determined during the ceremony. *

Rob Corddry Robert William Corddry (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' (2002–2006) and for his starring role in the film ''Hot Tub Time Machine''. He ...

, presented Collaborative Video of the Year *

Jimmie Allen James Edward Allen (born June 18, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is signed to Broken Bow Records imprint Stoney Creek, for which he has released the two singles "Best Shot" and " Make Me Want To" and the 2018 album ...

, introduced Old Dominion * Jordan Davis, introduced Thomas Rhett and Riley Green *

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

, honored the 20th anniversary of

CMT Crossroads ''CMT Crossroads'' is an American television program broadcast on CMT that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres such as alternative rock, pop, R&B, Rock, soul and more, frequently trading off performing one anot ...

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...

, introduced Mickey Guyton and Black Pumas *

Dylan Scott Dylan Scott Robinson (born October 22, 1990) is an American country pop singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Dylan Scott. He is signed to Curb Records. Career Scott's debut single, " Makin' This Boy Go Crazy", was released in ...

, presented Breakthrough Video of the Year *

Craig Morgan Craig Morgan Greer (born July 17, 1964) is an American country music artist. A veteran of the United States Army as a forward observer, Morgan began his musical career in 2000 on Atlantic Records, releasing his self-titled debut album for that ...

and

Mike Singletary Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958), also known by his nickname Samurai Mike, is an American professional football coach and former middle linebacker. After playing college football for the Baylor Bears, Singletary was drafted by the Chi ...

, introduced Walker Hayes *

Lily Aldridge Lily Maud Aldridge (born November 15, 1985) is an American model best known for being a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2010 until 2018. She also appeared in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'', alongside Chrissy Teigen and Nina Agdal, for th ...

, introduced Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd *

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

, introduced Cody Johnson *

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocat ...

, presented Female Video of the Year *

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

, introduced The Judds *

Gabby Barrett Gabby Barrett Foehner (born March 5, 2000) is an American country music singer. She finished third on the 16th season of ''American Idol''. Her debut single " I Hope" was the first top 10 Hot Country Songs debut by an unaccompanied woman sinc ...

and

Dustin Lynch Dustin Charles Lynch (born May 14, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Broken Bow Records. Lynch has released four albums and one EP for the label: a self-titled album in 2012, '' Where It's At'' in 2014, '' Curren ...

, presented Group/Duo Video of the Year *

Gayle King Gayle King (born December 28, 1954) is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, ''CBS Mornings'', and before that its predecessor ''CBS This Morning''. She is al ...

, introduced Jimmie Allen, Monica and Little Big Town and Honored CMT Equal Play *

Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015). He has performed i ...

, presented Male Video of the Year *

Taylor Lautner Taylor Daniel Lautner (; born February 11, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Therianthropy, shapeshifter Jacob Black in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga'' film series. Lautner began his acting caree ...

, introduced Kane Brown *

Bobby Berk Bobby Berk is an Emmy winning television host, author and interior designer. He stars in the Netflix series '' Queer Eye'' as the interior design expert. Early life Berk was born in Houston, Texas to a young mother and then adopted by his mater ...

Karamo Brown Karamo Karega Brown (born November 2, 1980) is an American television host, reality television personality, author, actor, and activist. Brown began his career in 2004 on the MTV reality show '' The Real World: Philadelphia'', becoming the first ...

Tan France Tanveer Wasim "Tan" France ( Safdar; born 20 April 1983) is a British-American fashion designer and television personality. Of Pakistani descent, he is one of the first openly gay South Asian men on a major show and one of the first out Muslim ...

and

Antoni Porowski Antoni Janusz Porowski (born March 14, 1984) is a Canadian television personality, cook, actor, model and author. He is the food and wine expert on the Netflix series '' Queer Eye'' (2018–present). Early life Porowski was born in Montreal, Qu ...

, introduced Miranda Lambert *

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

and

Isabel May Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of ''Elizabeth (given name), Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheba, Elisheva''), Arising in ...

, presented Video of the Year

Milestones

* Carrie Underwood, often referred to as the "Queen of the CMT Awards", won her 24th and 25th CMT Award, extending her record as the most decorated artist in CMT Awards history. * Kane Brown and Anthony Mackie marked the first time two black hosts have hosted the CMT Awards.

References

{{CMT Music Awards 2022 music awards 2022 awards in the United States CMT Music Awards April 2022 events in the United States 2022 in Tennessee