2024 MusicRow Awards Category Profile: Male Artist Of The Year

Following the announcement of this year’s nominees for the 36th annual MusicRow Awards, presented by City National Bank, we take a closer look at the Male Artist of the Year category. This category is voted on by MusicRow’s subscribers to honor outstanding achievements by a Nashville male artist during the eligibility period.

This year’s winners will be announced online on all MusicRow platforms on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Click here to see the full list of MusicRow Awards nominees.

Winners are determined solely by MusicRow Magazine subscribers. Voting is now open and closes on Aug. 9 at 5:00 p.m. To receive a ballot to vote in the MusicRow Awards, becoming a MusicRow subscriber here.

Kane Brown has been making history since the start of his career. With the release of his early single “Heaven,” Brown became the first artist in history to top all five Billboard Country charts simultaneously. The song’s Diamond certification also made Brown the first Black artist in country music to earn the certification with an original song. To date, he has garnered 23 RIAA certifications, five CMT Music Awards, five American Music Awards and one ACM Award. Brown recently notched his second nomination for Entertainer of the Year at the ACM Awards and made waves with his 11th No. 1 hit single “I Can Feel It.” He has also been named to the Time100 list, and became the first Black artist in history to headline and sell out Boston’s historic Fenway Park. Brown is currently on his headline tour, which includes six major stadium dates, as well as 23 other stops.

Singer-songwriter Zach Bryan has shown no signs of slowing down over the past year. The Oklahoma native released his self-titled album last year, his fourth overall. With standout tracks such as “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves, “Hey Driver” featuring The War And Treaty, “East Side Of Sorrow” and “Tourniquet,” the project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts. He then dropped his Boys Of Faith EP a month later, featuring smash hit “Sarah’s Place” with Noah Kahan. Bryan was crowned Billboard‘s Top New Artist of 2023 and was nominated for three Grammy Awards at this year’s ceremony. He took home his first Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with “I Remember Everything.” Bryan is currently playing stadiums across the country on his headlining tour, and recently released his latest album, The Great American Bar Scene, featuring focus tracks “Pink Skies” and “Purple Gas” with Noeline Hofmann.

Two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year Luke Combs recently kicked off another stadium tour, setting attendance records in Milwaukee, Buffalo and University Park. The Asheville, North Carolina native led the 2024 ACM Award nominations with eight nods and performed an unforgettable duet of “Fast Car” with Tracy Chapman during the 2024 Grammy Awards. Combs’ cover of the track won Single of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards, spent five consecutive weeks on top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and reached No. 1 on the Hot AC chart, becoming the first song by a male solo artist to ever top both the Hot AC and Country chart. The song has been streamed over 1.1 billion times, has been certified double-Platinum and spent 18 weeks in the top five of Billboard‘s all-genre Hot 100 chart, eight of which were spent at No. 2. His Gettin’ Old album has further established Combs as one of music’s most authentic and powerful voices. He also recently released his Fathers & Sons collection celebrating the journey of parenthood.

With the release of his second album, Bluebird Days, Jordan Davis further cemented himself as a widely acclaimed singer­-songwriter. The Shreveport, Louisiana native dropped the Gold-certified, 17-track project last year, featuring CMA Song of the Year “Next Thing You Know” as well as double-Platinum, multi-week No. 1s “What My World Spins Around” and “Buy Dirt” featuring Luke Bryan, which won numerous accolades including CMA and NSAI Song of the Year. To date, Davis has garnered over five billion streams and made television appearances on Good Morning America, Today, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and more. He is currently on the road for his headlining tour, as well as Luke Combs’ stadium run. Davis recently gave a taste of his upcoming music with the release of “Good News Sold.”

Award winning singer-songwriter Jelly Roll burst into the country music scene with his debut country album, Whitsitt Chapel. The project debuted in the top three on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart and at No. 2 on the Top Country Album chart, earning the biggest country debut album in Billboard consumption chart history. In 2023, the Nashville native won four People’s Choice Country Awards, three CMT Music Awards, Billboard‘s 2023 Breakthrough Award and the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year. He is also one of three artists to have scored three Country Airplay No. 1s in 2023 and the first to do it with his first three singles. The two-time Grammy nominee shares confessional, vulnerable expressions of self­doubt through his tunes, including smash hit “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson and “Need A Favor.” His documentary Save Me became the most watched music documentary on ABC News. On the heels of his new release “I Am Not Okay,” he is gearing up for his headlining arena tour this fall.

With 11 Billboard Music Award wins in 2023, Morgan Wallen continues to push his fame to the top. His third studio album, One Thing At A Time, has remained atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart for 19 non-consecutive weeks, taking the record for most weeks at No. 1 for a country album, and was the most­ streamed album of the year on Spotify. The six-time Platinum hit “Last Night” was streamed over 1.5 billion times, becoming the most-streamed song of any genre in the U.S. across Apple Music and Spotify and the longest-running No. 1 solo song in the Hot 100 chart’s history at 16 weeks total. His recent history­ making collaboration with Post Malone, “I Had Some Help,” impacted at country radio with 167 first-week adds, debuting at No. 15 on the Media base charts. The track has become the longest-running No. 1 of 2024. His 2023 stadium tour took the Tennessee native to five countries, playing for over 2.4 million fans. Wallen was also honored with the distinction of Billboard and Pollstar Country Tour of the Year.