If you remember the star stuffed Forever Country video that united 30 artists for the CMAs’ 50th anniversary, you know what “country’s biggest night” used to feel like – every major name in one room, whether they were up for awards or not.
The 59th Annual CMA Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena still had the spectacle. Lainey Wilson hosted solo, swept major trophies, Riley Green and Ella Langley dominated the single and song categories, and Vince Gill picked up the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. On paper, it was a textbook great show drawn straight from the complete list of winners.
But the buzz afterward was not about the winners. It was about who never bothered to show up: Morgan Wallen, Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Post Malone and others. Multiple outlets bluntly framed the 2025 CMAs as a night where the star power felt “noticeably thinned out.”
Some of these absences were practical. Others looked a lot like quiet protest. Taken together, they raise a harsher question than the CMA brass will ever ask onstage: are the CMAs losing the very artists who used to define them?
What actually went down at the 2025 CMAs
The basics first. The 59th CMAs took place November 19, 2025 in Nashville, with Lainey Wilson as the first solo female host in over three decades. She also won Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for Whirlwind and Female Vocalist, cementing her status as the genre’s current center of gravity. Riley Green and Ella Langley’s duet “You Look Like You Love Me” cleaned up Single, Song and Video of the Year.
Critically, the show was strong. Reviews highlighted Wilson’s performances, Gill’s tribute, and a lineup packed with Combs, Stapleton, Chesney, Old Dominion and a wave of younger names in what one outlet called the night’s best and worst moments.
Yet one detail jumped out: according to a widely cited breakdown, every artist who was actually nominated showed up, except for one – Morgan Wallen. Meanwhile, a separate gallery itemized nine big country stars who simply skipped the night altogether, including former hosts, perennial nominees and arena headliners.
So why did the heaviest hitters decide the CMAs were not worth the trip?
Morgan Wallen: the headliner who no longer needs the CMAs
Start with the loudest absence. In 2025 Wallen was nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year (for I’m the Problem) and Male Vocalist. He lost all three – mostly to Lainey Wilson and Cody Johnson – but he was statistically one of the night’s central figures. On the broadcast, he was a ghost.
This was not a one off. In 2024 he won Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs and still did not attend. Actor Jeff Bridges accepted on his behalf and joked about the no show while fans online alternated between outrage and calling it a “boss move.” The same reports reminded viewers that Wallen had been banned from CMA solo categories in 2021 after he was filmed using a racial slur, and only gradually reinstated in 2022 and 2023.
By 2025, the pattern had hardened. Wallen also skipped the 60th ACM Awards earlier in the year despite six nominations, choosing instead to post an Instagram Story of himself playing golf with Tom Brady. People magazine noted that he had now blown off the Grammys, the 2024 CMAs and the 2025 ACMs in a row.
His friend and collaborator Ernest then said the quiet part out loud. Asked about Wallen’s CMA absence, he told Taste of Country that Wallen “doesn’t give a f***” about awards shows, stressing that the singer is selling out stadiums and topping charts without red carpet appearances. It is rare to hear an artist’s inner circle dismiss the CMAs that bluntly, but it fits the facts.
Put simply, Wallen has flipped the old power dynamic. The CMAs used to crown the genre’s top draw. Right now, the CMAs arguably need Wallen’s presence more than he needs their trophies. After being punished publicly in 2021, then snubbed in key races before finally winning Entertainer in absentia, he appears content to let his streaming numbers and ticket sales stand as the only “awards” that matter.
Jason Aldean: “Not much love from that one”
Jason Aldean’s no show was less mysterious and more pointed. While the CMAs were airing, his wife Brittany posted sunny photos from a date night in Miami. When a fan asked why they were not in Nashville, she answered with four chilly words: “Not much love from that one.”
The numbers back up the dig. Aldean has earned 18 CMA nominations across his career but only two wins. By contrast, the ACMs have showered him with over 30 nominations and 14 wins, including three Entertainer of the Year trophies. In other words, the Vegas based ACMs treat him like a foundational star; the Nashville based CMAs often treat him like an afterthought.
So Aldean did the math. Faced with another night of playing background to newer darlings, he chose palm trees over the CMA cameras and let his wife’s caption send the message CMA voters have avoided hearing onstage.
Blake Shelton: still winning, but watching from the couch
Blake Shelton’s absence came with a more polite explanation, but the subtext is just as telling. Good Housekeeping reported ahead of the show that Shelton would skip the 2025 CMAs due to an overloaded schedule: Gwen Stefani was promoting new holiday music and a film tie in, while Blake was juggling a CBS series called The Road and prepping a Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace.
Here is the twist – Shelton still won a CMA that night. “Pour Me A Drink,” his collaboration with Post Malone, took Musical Event of the Year, yet he was nowhere in the building to accept it.
In the past, a guaranteed televised win would have been reason enough to clear the calendar. Shelton is a former CMA Entertainer of the Year and long time network TV star. If even he is comfortable staying home while the CMAs mail him trophies, it suggests another mental shift: for legacy acts who have already proven everything, the awards circuit is now optional entertainment, not essential career maintenance.
Reba, Carrie Underwood and the ex host generation
Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood built huge chunks of their modern mythology on the CMA stage. Reba has multiple hosting stints, major wins and a lifetime’s worth of clips from that podium. Underwood co hosted the show for 12 straight years, mostly with Brad Paisley, and attended every CMA Awards from 2005 onward.
That is why their 2025 absences hit older fans hardest.
Reba actually spent the spring anchoring the ACM Awards in Texas, fronting a 60th anniversary medley of canon defining country songs before steering the rest of the broadcast. When Lainey Wilson prepared to host the CMAs, she texted McEntire asking for one piece of advice; Reba sent back a full list.
So Reba is clearly engaged with the idea of country award shows. She just chose not to appear in person at the CMAs, even as younger women followed her trail. Country Thang Daily framed her 2025 decision as a mix of shifting priorities and a willingness to “let the new generation take the wheel.” There is no official statement, but the message is obvious enough: at this stage of her career, Reba does not need to sit through another three hour trophy pageant to validate her legacy.
Carrie Underwood’s case might be even more damning for the CMAs. After nearly two decades of perfect attendance, she shocked fans by skipping the 57th CMA Awards in 2023 despite an Entertainer of the Year nomination. Country Now emphasized that it was the first time she had missed the show since 2005, and that she offered no reason.
Fast forward to 2025. Underwood had no nominations, was busy with family and American Idol commitments, and again stayed home, becoming one of the nine highlighted absentees. When the woman who once symbolized the CMAs to an entire generation starts treating the show as optional, it signals a deeper crack in the bond between the institution and its former poster children.
Jelly Roll, Kane Brown and mental health over optics
Not every absence was about ego or politics. Some were about survival.
Jelly Roll, whose gritty mix of gospel tinged country and hip hop has made him one of the most talked about new stars, skipped the 2025 CMAs even though his duet “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Brandon Lake was up for Musical Event of the Year. (It ultimately lost to Post Malone and Shelton’s “Pour Me A Drink.”)
In the weeks leading into the show, he canceled a New Zealand tour date due to illness and spoke candidly on a podcast about being in the worst mental shape he had been in for a long time. His wife Bunnie documented an exhausting IVF journey. A detailed breakdown from WYRK concluded that, between the physical toll, his limited nominations and the stress of a glitzy TV production, staying home was a rational choice – especially after the CMAs drastically reduced his nominations compared with 2024.
Kane Brown, another younger superstar, was not nominated at the CMAs and did not attend. That same year he admitted in an American Songwriter interview that he had been in a “really dark place,” battling intrusive thoughts and depression as he prepared his album The High Road. Taste of Country’s skip list noted both Jelly and Kane as artists who had openly said they were in a dark place, suggesting their absences were less snubs than acts of self preservation.
For fans used to the old Nashville mentality of “show up, smile and swallow it,” seeing major stars choose mental health over optics may be one of the healthiest cultural shifts in modern country – even if it leaves TV producers scrambling.
The bigger story: why so many stars are ghosting awards shows
Awards shows no longer control the narrative
Historically the CMAs were where country history was written. Tribute packages to legends like Alan Jackson, with younger stars and Carrie Underwood lined up to sing his hits, framed the genre’s family tree better than any playlist. Moments like Tracy Chapman’s groundbreaking Song of the Year win for “Fast Car” in 2023 underscored how a single CMA trophy could change the story we tell about race, genre and influence.
In the streaming era, those stories now play out in real time on TikTok, YouTube and Spotify dashboards. Morgan Wallen can hit stadiums and dominate the charts while ignoring televised awards entirely, and the data still crowns him. Jelly Roll can build an army of fans through relentless touring and viral clips, with or without a CMA performance slot.
When artists know the algorithm and the box office determine their future more than a voter’s roll in Nashville, award night becomes a branding option, not a career necessity.
Snubs, genre wars and quiet protest votes
The CMAs have also spent years fighting an image problem among core country fans and traditionalist artists. The Beyoncé “Daddy Lessons” performance in 2016 and Alan Jackson’s reported walkout became a flashpoint about pop encroachment and who the show is really for. More recently, fan outrage over Carrie Underwood’s repeated losses and eventual 2023 absence painted the CMAs as out of touch with the artists who anchor their ratings.
Then there are the plain numbers. Jason Aldean’s imbalance of CMA vs ACM recognition, Jelly Roll’s steep nomination drop from 2024 to 2025, and Kane Brown’s ongoing struggle to land the same awards love as his streaming footprint would suggest all feed a suspicion that certain artists will never get full credit from CMA voters.
In that light, skipping the CMAs starts to look less like petulance and more like a low key protest vote: if the institution does not reflect their reality, why help prop it up?
Burnout, family and other real life priorities
Finally, there is the simple arithmetic of time and energy. Blake Shelton is building a Vegas residency and starring in another TV series. Gwen Stefani is pushing a holiday campaign. Reba is headlining other network specials. Carrie Underwood is juggling touring, a Las Vegas run of her own and motherhood.
Every one of those obligations is more directly tied to their livelihoods than a three hour awards telecast where they may or may not get 30 seconds of screen time. Even die hard traditionalists eventually choose grandkids or a quiet night at home over another spin through the Bridgestone lobby.
What this means for fans – and for the CMAs
None of this means the CMAs are finished. The 2025 show still delivered big performances, emotional tributes and genuine history making wins. Younger fans tuning in for Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley or Zach Top likely did not miss the no shows the way longtime viewers did.
But it does mean the old social contract is breaking. When Morgan Wallen can ignore the CMAs two years running and only grow bigger, when Jason Aldean openly shrugs that there is “not much love from that one,” when former standard bearers like Reba and Carrie treat the show as optional, the CMAs stop being the unquestioned center of the country universe and become just another TV gig.
If the Association wants its awards to feel mandatory again, it will have to do more than book strong performances. It will have to convince the genre’s biggest and most bruised egos that the room is fair, the history is honest, and the night is still worth rearranging their lives for.
Until then, country’s real “biggest night” may be happening somewhere else – on Wallen’s tour bus, in Reba’s TV studio, or in a studio where Jelly Roll and Kane Brown are turning their darkest battles into songs instead of red carpet moments.
