The 59th Annual Country Music Awards happened on Nov.19, 2025 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, hosted by singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson who also became the night’s biggest winner. Some of the biggest country singers attended and most ended up leaving as winners.
The Big Winners
Lainey Wilson took home the top prize this year: Entertainer of the Year. She also won Female Vocalist of the Year and album of the year for her famous “Whirlwind” album.
Zach Top was named New Artist of the Year hitting a tremendous milestone in his career and I personally feel this is well deserved because of all the hard work he has put into his music this year.
Cody Johnson won Male Vocalist of the year for the first time ever.
For the Vocal Group of the Year, newcomers The Red Clay Strays won, making a big achievement for their career.
The Legendary Duo Brooks & Dunn extended their record to 16 career wins for Vocal Duo of the Year .
Later in the evening, Ella Langley and Riley Green scored big with their song “You Look Like You Love Me” winning the Single of the Year, Song of the Year, and Music video of the year.
As a nod to a long career Vince Gill was honored with the prestigious Willie Nelson lifetime achievement award.
My take-Sample review of the 2025 CMA Awards
The 2025 CMA Awards were fun to watch and had a lot of good moments. Lainey Wilson was the star of the night. She hosted the show and won Entertainer of the Year which I felt was well deserved. Additionally, her performances during the awards were strong and she kept the show moving.
One of the best parts of the night was seeing new artists get recognized like Zach Top and the Red Clay Strays. It made the show feel fresh and showed that country music is growing with new talent. There were also good performances from several artists and the tribute to Vince Gill was touching and respectful.
The show wasn’t perfect as some parts felt predictable and a few moments seemed similar to past awards, but overall it was entertaining.
In the end, the 2025 Country Music Awards did a good job of mixing classic country music with new voices. It was enjoyable to watch and it showed how the genre continues to change and stay exciting.
