Event airs April 2nd on CBS and Paramount+
Avery Anna, Chapel Hart, Jackson Dean, Lily Rose, Megan Moroney and Nate Smith set for the Ram Trucks Side Stage at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, airing live from Austin, Texas’ Moody Center on Sunday, April 2nd from 8-11 pm ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
With her unique sound of reflective balladry, 2023 CMT Next Women of Country member Avery Anna will make her award show debut with a performance of “Narcissist,” which also earned her a first-time nomination for “Breakthrough Female Video of the Year.”
Unstoppable trio Chapel Hart – named to CMT’s Next Women of Country franchise in 2021 – won over the nation with a viral America’s Got Talent audition and will bring a show-stopping performance of “You Can Have Him Jolene” to CMT audiences for their award show debut.
Fast-rising outlaw country singer/songwriter Jackson Dean will make his CMT debut with a hard-hitting performance of his No. 1 single “Don’t Come Lookin,” which has been featured in hit series Yellowstone and also earned him a first-ever award show nod in “Breakthrough Male Video of the Year” category.
Groundbreaking country artist and 2022 CMT Next Women of Country member Lily Rose sets her CMT Music Awards debut with a performance of new single, “Whatcha Know About That.”
Vying for her first CMT belt buckle this year, 2x CMTMA nominee and 2023 CMT Next Women of Country inductee Megan Moroney will treat fans to her hit song “Tennessee Orange” and compete in both “Breakthrough Female Video of the Year” and “CMT Digital First Performance of the Year” categories.
Powerhouse vocalist and 2023 CMT Listen Up member Nate Smith will make his award show debut with Platinum-certified No. 1 single “Whiskey On You,” which also earned him a first-time nod for “Breakthrough Male Video of the Year.”
Known for spotlighting country’s future superstars, the Ram Trucks Side Stage has featured many notable names who went on to become CMT Music Awards winners and main stage performers, including Breland, Brothers Osborne, Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton, Parker McCollum and Thomas Rhett, among many others.
Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown return to host the event with performances by Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Carrie Underwood, Cody Johnson, Kane Brown + Katelyn Brown, Keith Urban, Kelsea Balerini and Lainey Wilson.
Wilson leads the nominations with four followed by Brown, Cody Johnson and first time nominee Jelly Roll with three each.
Fans can vote for their favorites across nine categories by visiting vote.cmt.com through March 27th. Voting for the highly-coveted “Video of the Year” category remains active into show.
Following its original premiere on CBS, Nashville’s biggest party returns to CMT for a special extended cut including 30 extra minutes of bonus content and never-before-seen performances on Thursday, April 6th at 8 pm ET/PT. The extended cut caps a full week of star-studded second-annual CMT Music Awards Week programming.
