On Nov. 11, the 54th annual CMA Awards will start, and everyone will be excited to hear the names of the winners announced. Each year, the CMAs honor some of the most prominent and forward-thinking figures in country music, some of whom have appeared on stage to accept CMA awards numerous times. Which country music artists have won the most CMA Awards? You may see the acts who do have 10 or more CMA awards in their trophy cases in the picture gallery below.
Since there are only 16 of them, you won’t be surprised by their names—the King of Country Music has received the most CMAs, after all—but you might be surprised by who isn’t on the list. Evidently, winning a ton of awards is harder than it appears.
1. Willie Nelson
Nelson may have moved from Nashville to Texas decades ago, but during the course of his lengthy career, he has nevertheless amassed 10 CMA Awards. His most recent win was in 2017 for a duet with Glen Campbell, but his first three awards (Album of the Year, Single of the Year, and Vocal Duo of the Year) occurred in 1976.
2. The Chicks
The country group, known as the Dixie Chicks, is one of just three female acts to have garnered enough CMA Awards to place in the top ten. Beginning with the Horizon Award in 1998 and ending with a victory for Vocal Group of the Year in 2007, their 10-win streak lasted for almost ten years.
3. Kenny Chesney
The most recent Chesney CMA Award, the Musical Event of the Year (“Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” with David Lee Murphy), came in 2018. Chesney has won 10 CMA Awards overall. In 2004, Chesney won his first two CMA awards: Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year (as both a producer and a performer).
4. Blake Shelton
Additionally, Blake Shelton has won 10 CMA Awards. His most recent award, Single of the Year, was given to him in 2019. He received his first two awards, Male Vocalist of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year, in 2010.
5. Taylor Swift
Swift, the second of these three female artists, won 10 CMA Awards prior to transitioning to pop music in 2014. Her most recent victory came after she began her pop music career, with “Better Man,” a song she co-wrote with Little Big Town, winning Song of the Year in 2017. She received her first win at the ceremony in the Horizon Award category in 2007.
6. Mac McAnally
In the CMA’s category for Musician of the Year, guitarist Mac McAnally is in complete control. Except for 2016 and 2019, he has won that prize every year since 2008, a total of ten times. That actually sets a record.
7. Chris Stapleton
Chris Stapleton has won 13 CMA awards since his breakthrough performance at the 2015 CMA Awards. That first year, he won three awards (plus a fourth for producing his Album of the Year-winning Traveller), and he has since won 10 more times.
8. Keith Urban
There are 13 CMA Awards in all that Keith Urban has won. The multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, and Horizon Award winner most recently won Entertainer of the Year in 2018.
9. Miranda Lambert
The last female artist on this list is Miranda Lambert, who has won 13 awards in total over her career, including Album of the Year for Revolution in 2010 and Female Vocalist of the Year for a record-breaking sixth time in 2017.
10. Brad Paisley
Beginning with the Horizon Award in 2000 and most recently winning Entertainer of the Year in 2010, Brad Paisley has won a total of 14 CMA Awards.
