The 2021 CMA Awards has officially come to an end when the award for Entertainer of the Year is given out. The three-hour show, which was hosted by Luke Bryan, filled with tons of live performances hands out a total of 12 awards, with the highly coveted Entertainer of the Year being last.
History of the Award
Entertainer of the Year is the night’s highest honor, which is why it is given last. Eddy Arnold was the first person to ever receive the award in 1967, with Glen Campbell being the second the next year. Garth Brooks has won the award the most times (7), Kenny Chesney has won it four times and Alan Jackson and George Strait have each won Entertainer of the Year thrice.
However, George Strait has the most EOTY nominations with 19, followed by Alan Jackson and garth Brooks tied at 13, and Keith Urban with 12.
Loretta Lynn became the first female artist to win the award in 1972 and Barbara Mandrell became the first artist to win twice (1980, 1981). Taylor Swift became the second woman to win the award twice (2009, 2011), and is the only woman to win this award in the 2000s and 2010s.
2021 Nominees
The CMA Award nominations were announced back in September, with Eric Church and Chris Stapleton leading the nominations with five a piece. Both are also nominated for Entertainer of the Year.
See the nominations for this year’s Entertainer of the Year:
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Country legend Alan Jackson presented the final award of the night, revealing the winner to be Luke Combs!
This win marks Combs’ first EOTY win, and his second nomination in this category in as many years. This award comes three years after Combs’ first CMA Award win for New Artist of the Year. Luke look completely shocked to hear his name called and proved he was by saying he never writes speeches and now he wished he did!
Congrats to Luke Combs!