CMT Music Awards Announces Lineup Additions

CMT has added to the increasingly star-packed lineup for the upcoming 2023 CMT Music Awards, airing live from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center on Sunday, April 2.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the storied CMT Next Women of Country franchise, seven-time Grammy winner Alanis Morissette will make her CMT Awards debut alongside Next Women of Country alum Ingrid Andress, Lainey Wilson, Madeline Edwards and Morgan Wade, plus Austin native Jackie Venson on guitar, for a world premiere performance of the female-empowerment anthem “You Oughta Know.”

Global icon Gwen Stefani will also make her CMT debut with a special one-of-a-kind performance alongside nominee Carly Pearce for the duo’s first-ever on-stage collaboration. Stefani last appeared on the show in 2020 with husband Blake Shelton to accept their Collaborative Video of the Year win for their duet “Nobody But You.”

Best-selling female artist of all time Shania Twain will be recognized with the third-ever CMT Equal Play Award, which recognizes an artist who is a visible and vocal advocate for elevating diverse and underrepresented voices in country music. Previous winners of the CMT Equal Play Award include Jennifer Nettles and Linda Martell.

CMT has also revealed the top six finalists vying for the night’s most-coveted Video of Year Award, with fan voting now open at vote.cmt.com. The final six Video of the Year nominees are:

Blake Shelton – “No Body”
Carrie Underwood – “Hate My Heart”
Cody Johnson – “Human”
Hardy feat. Lainey Wilson – “wait in the truck”
Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown – “Thank God”
Morgan Wallen – “You Proof”

Over the past three weeks, fans have cast their votes across all categories, including Video of the Year, narrowing down to the top six finalists from the original list of 16 nominees. On April 2, the six will be narrowed down to top three, with voting continuing through the live show, leading up to the big reveal at the end of the night.

This year’s top six sees Underwood competing for her fifth consecutive Video of the Year win and tenth overall in the category, as she remains the most awarded artist in CMT Music Awards history with 25 career wins.

Should Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown win, they would make history as the first husband and wife duo to win the coveted award. This would also be the first win for each of them in the category.

A win for Shelton would mark his second time winning Video of the Year, with the first earned in 2018, and a win by Johnson, Hardy, Wilson or Wallen would be their first win in the category.