Music award ceremony
The 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee and was hosted by CMA Award winners Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker.
Background.
Darius Rucker is the second African-American male to co-host the award show after Charley Pride, who co-hosted the 1975 ceremony.
On October 22, the CMA announced that Pride would be the recipient of the 2020 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. It would be Pride's last public appearance before his death that December.
On November 9, following the announcement that two of the artists (Lee Brice and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line) originally scheduled to perform on the CMA Awards had tested positive for coronavirus, the CMA released a statement to Entertainment Tonight explaining that "We have been extremely diligent with our testing process in advance of anyone entering our footprint. Every single person has been tested, and many will be tested repeatedly throughout the week. This is in addition to wearing PPE and of course practicing social and physical distancing. We have an incredible show planned and look forward to bringing the country music community together. However, our number one priority has been and will continue to be the safety of our artists, our crew and our staff. That will never be compromised."
In order to mitigate the likelihood of spreading coronavirus during the ceremony, only the nominees, their staff, guests and the crew were allowed into the venue and the traditional red carpet did not take place. Longtime CMA producer Roger Deaton confirmed to The Tennessean that the show would incorporate both live and pre-recorded performances (with around 60% being performed live) and that multiple stages throughout the venue would be utilized in order to account for how each stage must be fully cleaned and sanitized by crew members following a performance, taking about fifteen to twenty minutes. Seating arrangements for the attendees were designed to strictly adhere to social distancing guidelines, with a banquet-style layout akin to the inaugural untelevised CMA Awards wherein an artist and their guests each have their own table which is spaced eight meters apart from the other tables. After Pride's death, speculation arose that he may have caught the virus from an asymptomatic carrier at the ceremony who had gone undetected.
Winners and nominees.
The nominees were announced on September 1, 2020 by Luke Combs and Carly Pearce on "Good Morning America" as well as by Ingrid Andress and Gabby Barrett on the CMA YouTube channel. The eligibility period for the 54th CMA Awards was from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Winners in Bold.
Performers.
The first wave of performers were announced on October 29, 2020, followed by the second wave on November 5.
Artists test positive for COVID-19.
On November 8, 2020, Lee Brice was forced to pull out of performing his multi-nominated song "I Hope You're Happy Now" with Carly Pearce after testing positive for coronavirus. Charles Kelley from Lady A was later announced to be performing Brice's part alongside Pearce. On November 9, Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line revealed that he had also tested positive, resulting in the duo's performance of "Long Live" being cancelled, with their slot being given to Kelsea Ballerini who was originally not scheduled to appear. Both Brice and Hubbard received their positive test results before entering CMA rehearsals. Jenee Fleenor also tested positive for COVID-19 and her part in the Charlie Daniels tribute was given to Dan Hochhalter, the fiddle player in Dierks Bentley's band. Ahead of the awards, Lady A announced that, while the band themselves had all tested negative, a member of their immediate family had tested positive and they had made the decision not to attend the show, therefore not appearing alongside Thomas Rhett and Darius Rucker as planned. Kelley's performance with Pearce had been pre-recorded and aired as part of the show. Rascal Flatts also did not perform "Bless the Broken Road" after a member of the band tested positive.
Charley Pride later tested positive after the show, an infection that later proved fatal. It is under investigation how Pride caught the virus.
Presenters.
CeCe Winans introduced Darius Rucker &amp; Reba McEntire's performance.
Nominee milestones.
Courtesy of Billboard.
Controversies.
Garth Brooks.
On July 30, 2020, Garth Brooks announced that he wants his name to be permanently out of contention for Entertainer of the Year. After he won the 2019 Entertainer of the Year award, it caused a social media firestorm; many fans and artists believed Carrie Underwood or Eric Church deserved to win the award over Brooks. Brooks stated that after the last win, that it was "not that fun, to tell you the truth." As he absorbed the backlash after the November awards show, Brooks said, he couldn't shake the sentiment expressed in one of the tweets he read: "It said, 'Hey man, this guy, why doesn't he step down and just [leave] the entertainer for the next generation?'" He said he realized that taking his name out of the running was his only way forward. The timing of his announcement came just two days before the second round of voting begins for the annual awards, "I'm very grateful for the time that I've got to go [win]," he said, but now, "somebody else needs to hold that." According to a statement released July 30, 2020 by the Country Music Association, "The long-standing CMA Awards rules do not allow individuals to remove themselves from the balloting process at any point."
In 2021, Brooks restated that his position on receiving a nomination for Entertainer of the Year still stands.
John Prine.
After airing, the CMA Awards received criticism from artists Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires for failing to mention John Prine who had passed away in April following complications from COVID-19 as well as Billy Joe Shaver and Jerry Jeff Walker who both died in October, with Isbell noting that he and Shires had returned their CMA membership cards in protest. A statement from Prine's label Oh Boy Records read "we're disappointed John won't be a part of the CMA award show tonight. Country music was both the inspiration and foundation for his songwriting and performing. While there may be a number of artists who have had more commercial success than John, there are very few who achieved more artistically".