When the CMA hosted its first awards ceremony in 1967, there weren’t as many trophies to hand out as there are today. One of those inaugural awards was given to songwriter Dallas Frazier, who wrote Jack Greene’s “There Goes My Everything.”
That award was for Song of the Year, which has been handed out at every CMA Awards ceremony since.
People often confuse the Song of the Year Award and the similarly titled Single of the Year Award. The difference is simple, Song of the Year is given to the songwriters, while Single of the Year goes to the artists, producers, and mix engineers.
The only way an artist can win the Song of the Year Award is if they also wrote the song. That’s exactly what happened in the case of last year’s winner, as Chris Stapleton won the Song of the Year Award for his recording of “Broken Halos,” which he co-wrote with Mike Henderson.
This year, four of the five songs nominated for CMA Song of the Year were co-written by the artists who recorded them. The nominees were as follows:
-“Beautiful Crazy” – Luke Combs, Wyatt B. Durrette III, Robert Williford
(Recorded by Luke Combs)
-“Girl” – Maren Morris, Sarah Aarons, Greg Kurstin
(Recorded by Maren Morris)
-“God’s Country” – Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy
(Recorded by Blake Shelton)
-“Rainbow” – Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves
(Recorded by Kacey Musgraves)
-“Tequila” – Dan Smyers, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds
(Recorded by Dan + Shay)
Fans had to wait until the CMA Awards aired on November 13 to learn which songwriters would be given the Song of the Year Award.
After much anticipation, it was revealed that Combs, Durrette, and Williford won for writing “Beautiful Crazy!”
It’s easy to see why “Beautiful Crazy” was named as the 2019 CMA Song of the Year. The song became a smash hit after its release as a single in December 2018, and topped both the Hot Country Songs and the Country Airplay charts.
This is Combs’ first nomination and first win in the Song of the Year category. It is also the first win for his co-writers, Durrette and Williford.
Durrette was previously nominated for the award in 2009 for “Chicken Fried,” in 2010 for “Toes,” and in 2011 for “Colder Weather,” all of which were recorded by the Zac Brown Band. Williford had never been nominated in the category before.
Listen to the newly named CMA Song of the Year, “Beautiful Crazy,” below. Join us in congratulating Combs, Durrette, and Williford on this grand achievement!