and Morgan Wallen鈥檚 collaboration 鈥淚 Had Some Help鈥 could make both men big winners at Wednesday鈥檚 night鈥檚 Country Music Association Awards.
The huge hit from the rapper-singer and one of country鈥檚 biggest stars helped make the night鈥檚 top nominee and puts a spotlight on the crossover moment country is having 鈥 despite the absence of Beyonc茅 from the nominations.
鈥淚 Had Some Help鈥 is up for four awards: single, song, musical event and music video of the year, making Malone a first-time CMA nominee.
Wallen is up for seven total, including the night鈥檚 top prize, entertainer of the year, where his competition consists of Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and last year鈥檚 winner . Like Malone, she鈥檚 up for four awards.
Collaborations will be all the rage at the show that airs at 8 p.m. eastern on ABC and streams starting Thursday on Hulu.
Wilson will host in combination with Luke Bryan and NFL Hall-of-Famer and University of Tennessee alum Peyton Manning.
The show is set to open with a dual performance from Malone and Stapleton.
And the telecast will feature performances from artist combos throughout the night including Shaboozey, Combs and Eric Church; Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan; Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims; and Brooks & Dunn with Jelly Roll.
The evening will also have a multi-artist tribute to George Strait as he receives the association鈥檚 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
The CMA Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes music executives, artists, publicists, songwriters and other industry professionals.
Ahead of the nominations, some fans speculated that Beyonc茅, whose landmark country-and-then-some reclamation was released during the eligibility window, could receive a nomination at the 2024 CMAs. She did not.
Earlier this year, on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to top the chart since its 1964 inception.
Other big nominees include Stapleton and Cody Johnson, who got five apiece. But through the atypical math of the CMAs, Stapleton could go home with seven trophies if he wins his categories. Stapleton is both an artist and producer on 鈥淲hite Horse,鈥 up for single of the year, and 鈥淗igher,鈥 up for album of the year. At the CMAs, production credits are not counted as separate nominations, although they are factored into trophy counts.