Ella Langley & Kacey Musgraves Set to Rock the CMA Awards Stage

The Country Music Association and ABC have announced the first round of performers for the 2027 CMA Awards.

Ella Langley and Kacey Musgraves are both on the list.

Langley enters the night as the most-nominated artist this year with nine nods.

Musgraves holds five nominations.

The telecast airs live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 18.

Broadcast runs from 8-11 p.m.

ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.

On-demand streaming becomes available the next day on Hulu.

Lainey Wilson returns as host for the third consecutive year.

Eight performers were announced in the initial lineup.

Other confirmed artists include Miranda Lambert, Cody Johnson, Zach Top, the Red Clay Strays, Tucker Wetmore and Tim McGraw.

Lambert comes into the ceremony with seven nominations.

She holds the record as the most-nominated female artist in CMA history with 70 career nominations.

This year marks her 19th nomination for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Cody Johnson is the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year.

He has four nominations this year: Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Single and Music Video of the Year.

Zach Top enters the night with two nominations.

The Red Clay Strays will defend their title as vocal group of the year.

Tucker Wetmore is contending for new artist of the year.

Tim McGraw was announced as a performer in celebration of his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

McGraw has 40 career CMA nominations, including a current nod for Musical Event of the Year.

Ella Langley leads all nominees with nine total.

Her nominations include Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year.

She also earned nominations for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year.

Langley received two nominations each for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.

Last year she took home three CMA Awards.

What she will perform on the November 18 broadcast remains unannounced.

Kacey Musgraves has five nominations this year.

Her career includes multiple Grammy and CMA wins across country and pop categories.

Other top nominees who may be added to future performer slots include Ben West with five nominations.

West is Langley’s co-producer.

Chris Stapleton and Stephen Wilson Jr. each have four nominations.

Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs and Dave Clauss each have three nominations.

Clauss is Langley’s mix engineer.

A special tribute to Dolly Parton is also scheduled during the broadcast.

Details of the tribute have not been released.

Robert Deaton returns as executive producer.

Alan Carter is back as director.

Jon Macks serves as the telecast’s head writer.

Langley’s rise has been rapid over the past three years.

Her breakout single “That’s Why We Fight” with Koe Wetzel was released in April 2023.

It was one of the first songs of hers she heard on the radio.

In 2024 she scored her first major hit with “you look like you love me,” a collaboration with Riley Green.

Other hits include “weren’t for the wind.”

Her megahit “Choosin’ Texas” became the longest-running number-one hit by a female artist this century.

It is the only country song by a woman to simultaneously top Billboard’s Hot 100, Hot Country and Country Airplay charts.

Her sophomore album Dandelion debuted at number one on the all-genre Billboard 200.

It sold 169,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week.

Langley became just the second woman in history to hold the number-one album and song in the U.S. simultaneously with a country project.

In September 2026, “Choosin’ Texas” set a U.S. record as the longest-running number-one hit in history at 23 weeks.

It passed Mariah Carey’s long-standing record of 22 weeks atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

The song has now remained at number one on the Hot 100 for 26 weeks.

That means it has dominated the chart for over half a calendar year throughout 2026.

Only nine other songs have topped the Hot 100 so far this year.

Those include Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” and “I Knew It, I Knew You,” Drake’s “Janice STFU” and Bad Bunny’s “DtMF.”

Langley has spoken publicly about the personal struggles that came with sudden fame.

In a recent interview on SiriusXM The Highway, she was asked what she would tell her 2023 self.

She said there is “absolutely nothing” she would tell her younger self.

She explained that if her 2023 self knew everything that came with the success, “she would combust.”

The full quote was not included in the source material beyond that fragment.

Langley’s co-producer Ben West has five nominations this year.

Her mix engineer Dave Clauss has three.

The CMA Awards mark the 60th anniversary of the ceremony this year.

Additional performers are expected to be announced in the weeks leading up to the broadcast.

The full list of nominees was published separately by the Country Music Association.

Langley and Musgraves have both performed at previous CMA ceremonies.

Musgraves has won multiple CMA awards including Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year.

Langley’s nine nominations this year place her at the center of the night’s biggest storylines.

Whether she wins or not, her performance slot guarantees a national audience for her latest work.

The November 18 broadcast will air live from Nashville.

Tickets for the ceremony are sold through the Bridgestone Arena box office.

ABC will carry the telecast in its regular Wednesday night prime-time slot.

Disney+ subscribers can stream the show live.

Hulu will offer on-demand viewing starting November 19.

This is only the first round of performers.

More artists are expected to be added as the date approaches.

The tribute to Dolly Parton remains one of the most anticipated segments of the night.

Parton has won 10 CMA Awards over her career.

She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

No details about which artists will participate in the tribute have been confirmed.

Lainey Wilson will host the ceremony for the third year in a row.

Wilson herself has three nominations this year.

She won Entertainer of the Year in 2024.

The CMA Awards have been broadcast annually since 1967.

This year marks the 60th edition of the ceremony.

The show typically runs three hours with commercial breaks.

Performances are often paired with visual production elements unique to each artist.

Ella Langley’s performance will be her first on the CMA stage since her breakout year.