The Country Music Association has revealed the five artists who are competing for new artist of the year, ahead of today’s reveal of the entire list. The new artist nominees are Shaboozey, Zach Top, Ella Langley, Tucker Wetmore and Stephen Wilson Jr.
This marks the second year in a row that only one woman has been in the running in this category. (Last year’s sole female nominee, Megan Moroney, won the award.)
Shaboozey and Top are both vying for the award for the second year in a row. They lost last year to Moroney. (Moroney was on her second nomination when she won. She had lost the previous year to Jelly Roll.) CMA rules allow artists two nominations in this category.
If Shaboozey wins, he’ll become the third Black artist to win the category (or a predecessor category, the Horizon Award), following Darius Rucker (2009) and Jimmie Allen (2021). Charley Pride, the most successful Black artist in country music history, landed his first CMA nominations in 1968, 13 years before the inception of the Horizon Award.
Shaboozey, Top and Wetmore have all reached the top five on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going hit No. 2 on that chart. Top’s Cold Beer & Country Music and Wetmore’s What Not To both reached No. 4. Top’s follow-up, Ain’t In It for My Health, was released on Aug. 29.
Langley won a CMA Award last year in tandem with Riley Green for “you look like you love me,” which was voted musical event of the year. Her debut album, Hungover, reached No. 11 on Top Country Albums.
Wilson, who has had the least commercial success of this year’s nominees, is a country and rock guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. At 46, he is among the oldest nominees in the history of the category.
