The 51st Annual CMA Awards are next week. So here's a little CMA Week Preview of the contenders in the Male Vocalist of the Year category.
Dierks Bentley
- This will be Dierks sixth try at winning the Male Vocalist of the Year award.
- He won the Horizon Award (now New Artist of the Year) in 2005.
- He won Musical Event of the Year in 2016 with Elle King for "Different For Girls"
"I get validated on stage every night just by that direct interaction with our fans, but it’s great to have that recognition from your peers and this town. Just to be one of the five people nominated for any category the CMA has to offer is a huge honor.”
Eric Church
- Eric has been nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year for the last six years.
- In addition to Male Vocalist, he's also up for Musical Event of the Year with Rhiannon Giddens for "Kill a Word."
- Last year, he won the award for Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood.
“I can’t control awards, you know, but I’m proud of our show. I’m proud of the range of the emotion. It’s not just about getting there and partying the whole time. There’s some moments when I think people are uncomfortable and it’s dark and it’s happy and it goes back and forth, it’s an experience. I think that our fans, I ask a lot of them to buy into it, but they have.”
Chris Stapleton
- Chris is the reigning champ in this category for the last two years.
- Last year he also took a win in the Video of the Year category for the clip for "Fire Away."
- This year he's also up for Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year for From A Room: Volume 1.
"I don't make records to win awards. I make records to make records and hopefully make the records as good as can be. But that's what the these awards hopefully represent."
Keith Urban
- Keith won the Male Vocalist award in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
- He's been nominated for the award every year since 2004.
- He's also up for Entertainer of the Year and Music Video of the Year for "Blue Ain't Your Color."
"Seeing people connect to the music is absolutely hands down biggest reward for me, especially if you go to a place where you've never been to before. And there's all these people, I mean lots of people out there, you've never met a single one of them and they're singing every word. And you realize that it's not just the pretty melody and everything, they really, they get the songs. And it's amazing. It's a great feeling."
Thomas Rhett
- In addition to Male Vocalist of the Year, Thomas is also up for Musical Event of the Yearand Music Video of the Year for "Craving You" with Maren Morris.
- Last year he won Single of the Year for "Die a Happy Man."
"There are just so many talented people in our genre. Those award shows are fun and when you do win them they're great. But honestly, just t be nominated in those categories is very special as well."