The 2023 People's Choice Country Awards, the inaugural ceremony, was held on September 28, 2023 at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. It was hosted by country music group

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

. The ceremony was broadcast live on NBC and was made available to stream on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

. The People's Choice Country Awards recognize "the biggest and best that country music has to offer" chosen entirely by the fans across various categories. Several honorary awards will also be bestowed during the awards ceremony.

Background and development

On March 9, 2023, NBCUniversal announced that they would be premiering a spin-off of the long-running

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...

, honoring

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

's most popular artists, with the winners chosen entirely by the fans, though several honorary awards would also be awarded. On July 18, 2023, it was announced that country music legend,

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

, would receive the inaugural Country Icon Award, the award was presented to him by fellow Oklahoman,

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

. The nominations were announced on August 16, 2023 with

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country pop singer from Sneedville, Tennessee. He competed in the The Voice (American season 6), sixth season of ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice''. After being eliminated in the ...

leading with eleven, followed by

Luke Combs Luke Albert Combs (born March 2, 1990) is an American country music, country singer. He was born in North Carolina and grew up there, performing as a child. After leaving college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, Nas ...

with eight.

Lainey Wilson Lainey Denay Wilson (born May 19, 1992) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. She performed at an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her f ...

was the most nominated female artist with seven nods.

Wynonna Judd Wynonna Ellen Judd, known simply as 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 musicians in history. She has had 19 No. 1 s ...

, was honored with the Country Champion Award.

received the Country Icon Award. On September 8, 2023, it was announced that country music legend,

, would receive the inaugural Country Champion Award, the award celebrated her decades-long career and efforts around philanthropy and activism. During the ceremony there were live performances by Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, HARDY, Jelly Roll, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town and Wynonna. While receiving his Icon Award honor, Toby Keith performed for the first time since the end of his

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

treatment. This was also one of Keith's last public appearances and before his death on February 5, 2024.

Winners and nominees

All nominees are listed below, and the winners are listed in bold.

Special Awards

Nominations and Wins

References

{{People's Choice Awards Country music awards People's Choice Awards People's Choice Country Awards 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee 2023 music awards 2023 awards in the United States September 2023 in the United States