Chris Stapleton and Gabby Barrett are the lead Country music nominees at the American Music Awards, set for Sunday, November 21st in Los Angeles. Chris and Gabby each earned three nods — Chris for Favorite Male Country Artist, Favorite Country Album for Starting Over and Favorite Country Song for “Starting Over,” while Gabby is nominated for Favorite Female Country Artist, Favorite Country Album for Goldmine and Favorite Country Song for “The Good Ones.”
Morgan Wallen scored two nods for Favorite Country Album for Dangerous: The Double Album and Favorite Male Country Artist, however he will not be allowed to participate in the show in any way. AMA producers issued a statement that reads, “Morgan Wallen is a nominee this year based on charting. As his conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting). We plan to evaluate his progress in doing meaningful work as an ally to the Black community and will consider his participation in future shows.”
Here are the complete list of AMA Country music nominees:
FAVORITE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST
Chris Stapleton
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
FAVORITE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kacey Musgraves
Maren Morris
Miranda Lambert
FAVORITE COUNTRY DUO OR GROUP
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Lady A
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
FAVORITE COUNTRY ALBUM
Chris Stapleton, Starting Over
Gabby Barrett, Goldmine
Lee Brice, Hey World
Luke Bryan, Born Here Live Here Die Here
Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
FAVORITE COUNTRY SONG
Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over”
Chris Young & Kane Brown, “Famous Friends”
Gabby Barrett, “The Good Ones”
Luke Combs, “Forever After All”
Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”
FAVORITE INSPIRATIONAL ARTIST
CAIN
Carrie Underwood
Elevation Worship
Lauren Daigle
Zach Williams
Gabby Barrett reacted to her nominations by saying, “I did not expect to wake up this morning to THREE nominations for the AMAs. I can’t even put into words how much this year has meant to me, both in my career and personal life. I’m continued to be blown away by God’s goodness! Being able to connect with my fans and perform with my family by my side is every dream come true, and I’m just so grateful.”
Lee Brice said, “What a incredible honor. Putting this album together during a pandemic presented us with some challenges, but also created new ways of making music that I will for sure lean back on in the future. I am proud to say that at the end of the day, it's one of the best pieces of work I've ever put together. A big, huge thank you to all my collaborators and team who helped me write, and put these songs together like we did, and an even bigger thank you to all the fans who have supported me and music for all these years!”
The 2021 American Music Awards will air live on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET.