BREAKING: 2026 MusicRow Awards Winners [Updating Live]

MusicRow Magazine is revealing the winners of the 38th annual MusicRow Awards today (Sept. 2) on its online platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and X.

City National Bank is the Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 MusicRow Awards.

The MusicRow Awards are Nashville’s longest-running music industry trade publication honors and celebrates the achievements of songwriters, artists, producers and more. Winners are voted on by MusicRow’s subscribers.

All the MusicRow Award nominees are profiled in the recently-released MusicRow Awards print issue.

The winners for the 38th annual MusicRow Awards (winners marked in red):

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR:
Carson Chamberlain
Charlie Handsome
Dann Huff
Jay Joyce
Joey Moi
Ben West – WINNER

STUDIO OF THE YEAR:
Blackbird Studio
Ocean Way Nashville Studio
RCA Studio A
Sound Emporium Studios
Sound Stage Studios
Starstruck Studios

LABEL GROUP OF THE YEAR:
BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville
Big Loud Records
MCA
Sony Music Nashville
Triple Tigers Records
Warner Records Nashville

TALENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR:
CAA
The Kinkead Entertainment Agency
The Neal Agency
THE·TEAM
UTA
WME

PUBLISHING COMPANY OF THE YEAR:
Back Blocks Music
Concord Music Publishing
River House Artists
Sony Music Publishing
UMPG Nashville
Warner Chappell Music Nashville

BREAKTHROUGH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR:
Smith Ahnquist
Dan Alley
Beau Bailey
Sam Banks
Jeremy Bussey
Jessica Farren
Austin Goodloe
Jordan Gray
Bobby Hamrick
Jamie Kenney
Chris McKenna
David “Messy” Mescon
Summer Overstreet
Nicholas Sainato
Ava Suppelsa
Driver Williams
Christian Yancey

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST-WRITER OF THE YEAR:
Graham Barham
Wyatt McCubbin
Max McNown
Kevin Powers
Hudson Westbrook

MALE SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR:
John Byron
Ashley Gorley
Charlie Handsome
Chase McGill
Josh Miller
Blake Pendergrass

FEMALE SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR:
Trannie Anderson
Jessie Jo Dillon
Natalie Hemby
Ava Suppelsa
Joybeth Taylor
Lydia Vaughan

SONG OF THE YEAR:
“Backseat Driver” – Songwriters: Jacob Davis, Jordan Walker
“Choosin’ Texas” – Songwriters: Ella Langley, Joybeth Taylor, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert
“I Sit In Parks” – Songwriter: Kelsea Ballerini
“McArthur” – Songwriters: Chase McGill, Jameson Rodgers, Josh Thompson, Michael Hardy
“Say So” – Songwriters: Dan Smyers, David Hodges, Jimmy Robbins, Shay Mooney
“Sleepless In A Hotel Room” – Songwriters: Jonathan Singleton, Luke Combs, Randy Montana

DISCOVERY ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Laci Kaye Booth
Kashus Culpepper
Alexandra Kay
Braxton Keith
Ty Myers
Emily Ann Roberts

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Gavin Adcock
Kaitlin Butts
Carter Faith
Vincent Mason
Max McNown
Hudson Westbrook

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Avery Anna
Kelsea Ballerini
Ella Langley
Megan Moroney
Kacey Musgraves
Lainey Wilson

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Luke Combs
Riley Green
Cody Johnson
Zach Top
Morgan Wallen
Tucker Wetmore

GROUP/DUO ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
49 Winchester
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Flatland Cavalry
Old Dominion
The Red Clay Strays

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR:
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Ella Langley
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson

MusicRow also honors the Top 10 Album All-Star Musicians at the 2026 MusicRow Awards, recognizing the studio players who performed on the most albums reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart during the eligibility period. The honorees are:

Bass:
Jimmie Lee Sloas

Drums:
Jerry Roe

Engineer (TIE):
Jim Cooley
Joey Moi

Fiddle (TIE):
Jenee Fleenor
Lucas Ruge-Jones

Guitar:
Bryan Sutton

Keyboards:
Dave Cohen

Steel:
Justin Schipper

Vocals:
Wes Hightower