Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year

Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year
CountryUnited States
Presented byCountry Music Association
First awarded1967
Currently held byChris Stapleton (2024)

The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year.[1] While its sister category, Song of the Year recognizes the songwriters, Single of the Year is awarded to the artist. Starting in 1989 and 2016 respectively, the producer and mix engineer of the track also received an award. Rules state the track must have reached the Top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart, Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart, or Country Aircheck Chart for the first time during the eligibility period.  If the single charted in the Top 10 on the above charts and was released prior to the eligibility period but achieved its highest chart position during the eligibility period, it is eligible.[2]

The inaugural recipient of the award was "There Goes My Everything" by Jack Greene in 1967, with Jeannie C. Riley becoming the first female winner the following year, and Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson being the first group awarded in 1976. To date, there are eight artists who have won the award twice. George Strait has the most nominations in this category, with nine, while eight—time nominee Brad Paisley holds the record for most nominations without a win. The current holder of the award is Chris Stapleton for "White Horse", which won at the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2024.

Recipients

Three—time recipient Chris Stapleton.
Two—time winners Lady Antebellum
1997 winner Deana Carter
Two—time recipient Willie Nelson
1996 and 2008 winner George Strait
Jeannie C. Riley won the award in 1968
Year Winner Work Nominees
2024 Blue ribbon Chris Stapleton "White Horse"
2023 Blue ribbon Luke Combs "Fast Car"
2022 Blue ribbon Cody Johnson "'Til You Can't"
2021 Blue ribbon Chris Stapleton "Starting Over"
2020 Blue ribbon Maren Morris "The Bones"
2019 Blue ribbon Blake Shelton "God's Country"
2018 Blue ribbon Chris Stapleton "Broken Halos"
2017 Blue ribbon Keith Urban "Blue Ain't Your Color"
2016 Blue ribbon Thomas Rhett "Die a Happy Man"
2015 Blue ribbon Little Big Town "Girl Crush"
2014 Blue ribbon Miranda Lambert "Automatic"
2013 Blue ribbon Florida Georgia Line "Cruise"
2012 Blue ribbon Little Big Town "Pontoon"
2011 Blue ribbon The Band Perry "If I Die Young"
2010 Blue ribbon Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"
2009 Blue ribbon Lady Antebellum "I Run to You"
2008 Blue ribbon George Strait "I Saw God Today"
2007 Blue ribbon Carrie Underwood "Before He Cheats"
2006 Blue ribbon Brooks & Dunn "Believe"
2005 Blue ribbon Lee Ann Womack "I May Hate Myself in the Morning"
2004 Blue ribbon Tim McGraw "Live Like You Were Dying"
2003 Blue ribbon Johnny Cash "Hurt"
2002 Blue ribbon Alan Jackson "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)"
2001 Blue ribbon The Soggy Bottom Boys "Man of Constant Sorrow"
2000 Blue ribbon Lee Ann Womack
Blue ribbon Sons of the Desert 		"I Hope You Dance"
1999 Blue ribbon Dixie Chicks "Wide Open Spaces"
1998 Blue ribbon Steve Wariner "Holes in the Floor of Heaven"
1997 Blue ribbon Deana Carter "Strawberry Wine"
1996 Blue ribbon George Strait "Check Yes or No"
1995 Blue ribbon Alison Krauss & Union Station "When You Say Nothing at All"
1994 Blue ribbon John Michael Montgomery "I Swear"
1993 Blue ribbon Alan Jackson "Chattahoochee"
1992 Blue ribbon Billy Ray Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart"
1991 Blue ribbon Garth Brooks "Friends in Low Places"
1990 Blue ribbon Vince Gill "When I Call Your Name"
1989 Blue ribbon Keith Whitley "I'm No Stranger to the Rain"
1988 Blue ribbon Kathy Mattea "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses"
1987 Blue ribbon Randy Travis "Forever and Ever, Amen"
1986 Blue ribbon Dan Seals "Bop"
1985 Blue ribbon The Judds "Why Not Me"
1984 Blue ribbon Anne Murray "A Little Good News"
1983 Blue ribbon John Anderson "Swingin'"
1982 Blue ribbon Willie Nelson "Always on My Mind"
1981 Blue ribbon Oak Ridge Boys "Elvira"
1980 Blue ribbon George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"
1979 Blue ribbon Charlie Daniels Band "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
1978 Blue ribbon The Kendalls "Heaven's Just a Sin Away"
1977 Blue ribbon Kenny Rogers "Lucille"
1976 Blue ribbon Waylon Jennings
Blue ribbon Willie Nelson 		"Good Hearted Woman"
1975 Blue ribbon Freddy Fender "Before the Next Teardrop Falls"
1974 Blue ribbon Cal Smith "Country Bumpkin"
1973 Blue ribbon Charlie Rich "Behind Closed Doors"
1972 Blue ribbon Donna Fargo "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A."
1971 Blue ribbon Sammi Smith "Help Me Make It Through the Night"
1970 Blue ribbon Merle Haggard "Okie from Muskogee"
1969 Blue ribbon Johnny Cash "A Boy Named Sue"
1968 Blue ribbon Jeannie C. Riley "Harper Valley PTA"
1967 Blue ribbon Jack Greene "There Goes My Everything"

Artists with multiple wins

Artists that received multiple awards
Awards Artist
3 Chris Stapleton
2 Alan Jackson
George Strait
Johnny Cash
Lady Antebellum
Lee Ann Womack
Little Big Town
Willie Nelson

Artists with multiple nominations

9 nominations
8 nominations
7 nominations
6 nominations
5 nominations
4 nominations
3 nominations
2 nominations

Notes

  1. ^ Including one as a member of The Highwaymen.
  2. ^ Including one as a member of The Highwaymen.
  3. ^ Including one as a member of The Highwaymen.
  4. ^ Including one as a member of The Highwaymen.

References

  1. ^ "CMA Awards Past Winners & Nominees".
  2. ^ "About".