Inside the Plans to Celebrate the CMA Awards at 60: ‘We Have to Meet Fans Where They Are’

If it weren’t for Elvis Presley, there may not have been a Country Music Association — and, by extension, no 60th anniversary of the CMA Awards to celebrate on Nov. 18.

“In 1958, country radio stations all over the country were starting to turn to rock to follow the popularity of Elvis, and [industry] leaders got together during the DJ conference in Miami and said, ‘How do we keep our business strong?’ And they formed the CMA,” says Sarah Trahern, who has been the CMA’s CEO since 2014.

“The first year there were 20 people on the board and 200 CMA members,” Trahern continues. “Now we have 8,000 members and a 75-person board. The tenets of what makes the CMA successful really started then, which was leaders coming together to check their competitive hats at the door for the collective good of the association. That is something that we still carry forward today.”

Earlier this year, Trahern announced she would be stepping down, and in July, Brittany Schaffer, former dean of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont University, was named as her replacement. In September, the two began serving together for a transition period that officially ends Dec. 31. (Unofficially, Trahern leaves a little earlier: “My last day is Dec. 10, and my husband and I are on a plane to Spain on Dec. 11,” she says.)

But first comes the 60th-anniversary edition of the CMA Awards, which will celebrate a record year for country music, led by Ella Langley, who received nine nominations. Taylor Swift, who is nominated for single of the year for “I Knew It, I Knew You,” has already announced on social media her intention to return to the show for the first time since 2016.

As CEO, her purview also includes June’s CMA Fest, the charitable CMA Foundation and the overall business of the association. “One of the things that surprised me the most when I first started is that a lot of folks don’t understand that the CMA is a trade association and we’re a 52-weeks-a-year business,” she says.

“As we go into the 60th, I’ve been really fortunate in my time in the chair,” adds Trahern, who recently became licensed as an executive coach as she starts her next chapter. “I feel like I led [the CMA] through three chapters: the pre-COVID chapter, the COVID chapter and then there’s what our board chair in 2022 called “bringing the fun back.’ ” Trahern talked to Billboard about what to expect from the Lainey Wilson-hosted show, the milestones she has overseen during her tenure and how the show and the organization have evolved.

The slogan for the CMA Awards is Country Music’s Biggest Night. How does that play into how you and executive producer Robert Deaton plan the show?

It always does. If people just wanted the straight-up music, they’re going to listen to the tracks. If Ella Langley [is] doing “Choosin’ Texas,” [she] might not do it in the standard way because that moment is special when you take into account that this is the CMAs. So how do we take something that may be normal and turn it on its head a little bit? Creatively, that’s why I love working with Robert. He lives and breathes the music. How do we make sure that we are highlighting the breakout year for so many of these top new artists who I really think are going to be around a long time?

Earlier this year, the CMA and ABC announced an extension of your partnership to run through 2032 and includes streaming the CMA Awards on Disney+ for the first time simultaneously as the show airs on ABC. How important is that?

The No. 1 thing we had to have [from the new deal] was a simulcast because [without it], you’re automatically taking out a portion of the audience today because they don’t have access or choose not to have access to linear television. We have to meet fans where they are, and this is a way in this new chapter to be able to do so.

How long have you been working on the 60th-­anniversary show and how do you differentiate it from the 50th, which was such a milestone?

There are pieces of it we’ve been talking about for a year or so … You can’t get hotter than the ’90s now in a lot of ways. When we did the 50th, we reached way back to the very beginning. We’ll reach back some to the early days of the CMAs, but really, the hot artists today, their heroes are the stars of the ’90s. So the ability in this show to really focus on reaching back to there and what’s more relevant in that versus necessarily going back to Tammy Wynette and George Jones and Charley Pride and the people that I came into the business listening to. Those may be names that the current fans don’t know, but the current fans are going to know Tim McGraw, who’s going into the Country Music Hall of Fame. They’re going to know Brooks & Dunn, who are out touring today. They’re going to know Faith Hill, Martina McBride [and] all those heroes the artists today lean back to. That will be the thing that we can celebrate with the 60th a little bit more.

How will that play into the look of the show?

We are redesigning some elements of our set to be able to really play into visually the history of our genre. We’re not just about listening to tracks. The artists live country music, so the ability to utilize that set to both be a contemporary element and honor the history, I’m very excited.

Why is Lainey Wilson, who is hosting for the third time, the right host this year?

Lainey is such a perfect person to host the show this year because she’s the reigning entertainer of the year and is continuing to be an international growth artist and is out there playing, but she also has such a deep, deep love of the history. I remember the year that she won new artist of the year [in 2022], and her talking about how it was a 10-year town and now just to watch her continue to explode on a global basis, what you see is what you get. The power of country music is being genuine and authentic, and that’s how Lainey walks into a room.

In the 2020s, we have seen coastal labels come into country music. How do you think that’s
affected the CMA and changed the complexion of the ­organization?

We work more with record labels now that are in the L.A. and New York markets. Those leaders, when they come into a meeting here or come to speak to our board of directors, almost all of them say, “There’s a magic to the fact that a CMA can exist and flourish and we wish there was something like this in rock.” There’s a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and there’s a Gospel Hall of Fame and all those things, but I’m looking out my window up and down 16th Avenue [on Music Row], and the proximity in the early days helped us have really great face-to-face discussions. Now we’re global and we have task forces around the world that function like our board of directors does.

Certainly, we have guidelines on how many people can vote from any given company so that there’s some equity about them. But inclusion is good for the business. The 30-plus years I’ve been in Nashville, we’ve ridden this wave. Neotraditionalists come and go and then it’s “Oh, no. It’s all becoming pop!” But then “Pop’s good. It’s driving the business.” It’s just about good music and good songs as the growth of country music gets broader.

What’s something from the past 60 years that you consider sacred that you hope the awards never changes?

I don’t think people would understand this unless you’ve been there, but I just love the community. I love that the people show up. I love that Keith Urban shows up in years that he’s not nominated. We invite back all the former entertainers of the year. We invite back all the people who are in the Country Museum Hall of Fame every year. Past board chairs and people who used to have my job are always invited back. The number of people who come back just to be in the room is the power of that community. I love it when we bring back a Ricky Skaggs or we bring back a Marty Stuart.

What are some of your favorite memories from your time as CEO?

Two of my favorite show opens I’ve been a part of include the 50th-­anniversary opening that Robert put together with [decades-­spanning] artists. Things didn’t always go so great at dress rehearsal, and I remember us joking about that and going, “Wow, you know, it’s a lot of history.” The next year with the women in 2019, when it was Carrie [Underwood] and Reba [McEntire] and Dolly [Parton] [hosting], and we had the powerful all-female-­artist opening. Those are the [times] where it’s not just a TV show, it’s about the community.

Having Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake together on our show [in 2015]. Not a lot of people knew Chris’ music. Certainly, a lot of us had followed him from the bluegrass days, but that was a breakout performance for him on our show because he was with JT. Those are the pieces that [show] we’re part of pop culture and we’re part of history.

In years past, the CMA Awards have reflected the current times. Can you talk more about that?

To me, personally, the most meaningful is 2001 [after 9/11], when Alan Jackson did “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Then after the [2017 mass] shooting at the Route 91 [Harvest] festival. We’ve only done — at least in my tenure — an In Memoriam segment once and that was after the shooting in [Las] Vegas because it was our chance not to just talk about the people we lost in the business, but the fans we lost. Carrie Underwood did the song “Softly and Tenderly.” Those speak to some cultural moments when the world gets smaller, and that’s the power of music.

When you look back, are there any things you wish had gone differently? The CMA Awards were criticized when Beyoncé didn’t get any nominations for Cowboy Carter in 2024.

Yeah, but the flip side is I stand behind that she and The Chicks’ performance for the 2016 show was a solid performance. I don’t have a vote. The voters determine the nominations, so there’s always going to be surprises.

There are other awards shows that honor country music. What makes the CMA Awards so special?

We actually were the first country awards show on television. So, while the [Academy of Country Music] Awards existed before us, in 1968, we were the first one to go to national television after starting in 1967. [Editor’s note: The first ACM Awards show was held in 1966 but the awards were not televised until 1972.] To be in the chair for the 50th awards, for the 50th CMA Fest [in 2023] and then to be able to be here for the 60th CMA Awards as the little girl who grew up watching the awards in the ’70s on TV and accepting my trophy [using] a violin stand that was my microphone, and to put one more button on it before I walk away is very special for me personally.

My Best CMA Moment

Artists recall their favorite CMA Awards and memories from the show.

Lainey Wilson: “[Winning] entertainer of the year [in 2023]. That one just hit different. When you think about all the miles, the years of hearing no, living in my camper and dreaming about getting a foot in the door … to be recognized for the thing I’ve spent my whole life working toward was pretty overwhelming. It felt like a win for everybody who’s been riding this ride with me.”

Randy Travis: “Choosing a favorite CMA win is like picking your favorite child! They all mean something for different reasons: the ’86 Horizon Award [now called the new artist award] because the path I carved for years finally led to open doors; ’87 because there were three wins for male vocalist, single and album; and ’03 because ‘Three Wooden Crosses’ was a powerful song crossing country, gospel and pop genres. But, by far, my most memorable year was 1988, when America’s sweetheart and country’s queen, Dolly Parton, was solo hosting. As she walked by the front row where many of the nominees were sitting, she sat down in my lap and proceeded to make this new guy blush with her ‘big … ideas.’ I did win male vocalist that year, but certainly don’t remember my acceptance speech as my train of thought remained derailed the rest of the evening. It was glorious. I will forever be grateful to the CMAs for their career-long support.”

Dave Haywood, Lady A: “We were actually in the studio when we received the news of this year’s nomination, so it gave us a really cool chance to reflect together. Marking 20 years as a band last month, and realizing we’ve been nominated 19 times for vocal group of the year, is unbelievable. We were just reminiscing on our first win in the category back in 2009, and so if we had to pick, that would have to be the one that’s meant the most. We felt such a warm welcome and acceptance into the genre, and we were truly blown away by being honored like that. We are incredibly grateful to still be a part of the country music family and can’t wait to celebrate the [awards’] 60th.”

Clint Black: “It’s hard to single out one award, but the Horizon Award [in 1989] stands out because it ushered in everything that followed. It was my first award and the realization of all the dreams and hard work in the nightclubs of Houston. Standing up there in front of my jukebox heroes, holding that award, I felt I had arrived and I was part of that group looking back at me from their seats.”

Bill Anderson: “My favorite is probably the vocal event of the year award in 2001. It was for a song called ‘Too Country,’ which I co-wrote with Chuck Cannon and recorded with Brad Paisley, Buck Owens and George Jones. How could winning an award alongside those legends not be my favorite?”

Travis Tritt: “Of any award I’ve won, winning the Horizon Award in 1991 meant the most to me. It validated my career when I was establishing myself as a new artist and set me apart from the pack of other new artists at that time.”

Ronnie Milsap: “My favorite win from the Country Music Association has to be in 1977, when I won what we call ‘The Triple Crown’: male vocalist of the year, album of the year and entertainer of the year. That was a real dream come true. My wife, Joyce, walked with me to the stage and when they said I was an ‘overnight success,’ I told her, ‘Well, it’s been a long night!’ She whispered, ‘It sure has!’ ”

Compiled by Jessica Nicholson.

This story appears in the Oct. 10, 2026, issue of Billboard.