Country artists have several awards shows exclusively for them, such as the CMA Awards and the CMT Music Awards. But there are also many all-genre music awards shows that take the time to recognize country artists’ accomplishments.
One such awards show is the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The 2020 ceremony will be held on March 29, so it was time for iHeart to name the nominees!
The nominees for the 2020 iHeart Radio Music Awards were announced on Wednesday (January 8).
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7BuHX9ASb4/
There are three categories at the iHeartRadio Music Awards that are specifically for country singers: Country Song of the Year, Country Artist of the Year, and Best New Country Artist.
Blake Shelton earned a nod in the Country Song of the Year category for his #1 hit “God’s Country.” Other artists nominated in the same category include Maren Morris (“GIRL”) and Luke Combs (“Beautiful Crazy”).
Speaking of Combs, the reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the year earned some other nominations. He’s up for Country Artist of the Year as well as the all-genre Male Artist of the Year Award.
Carrie Underwood also earned some recognition. She was named as another nominee in the Country Artist of the Year category.
Another artist that earned a nod in an all-genre category was Dan + Shay. The duo was recognized in the Best Duo/Group of the year category, the Country Artist of the Year category, and the Best Lyrics category (“10,000 Hours”).
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7FCoaYhti-/
The prior mentioned Best Lyrics Category is one of few fan-voted awards at the ceremony. Country fans can either show their support for Dan + Shay or Morris, who is nominated in the category for her song, “The Bones.”
Another fan-voted category is Best Cover Songs. A few country singers will be vying for fans’ votes in this one!
Keith Urban is nominated in the category for his cover of Taylor Swift‘s “Lover,” and Miranda Lambert, Morris, Elle King, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack are nominated for their collaborative cover of Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell In Love.”
You can find the full list of nominees in the country-exclusive categories below.
Country Song of the Year
- “Beautiful Crazy” – Luke Combs
- “GIRL” – Maren Morris
- “God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
- “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home” – Justin Moore
- “Whiskey Glasses” – Morgan Wallen
Country Artist of the Year
- Carrie Underwood
- Dan + Shay
- Luke Bryan
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
Best New Country Artist
- Jimmie Allen
- Matt Stell
- Morgan Wallen
- Riley Green
- Runaway June
Best of luck to all of the artists nominated for an iHeartRadio Music Award this year!
Tune in to the video below to see Combs speak after he won the Best New Country Artist award in 2018. Now, the Country Artist of the Year award could be his in 2020!