Everything to Know About the 2020 CMT Music Awards

The 2020 CMT Music Awards are scheduled to take place this week in Nashville after being postponed from June due to the coronavirus pandemic, and many of country music’s biggest names are set to participate.

The show will be done in a new format and will feature outdoor performances “in and around” Nashville and will be fully virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic. The CMT Music Awards are fan-voted, and voting is still open for Video of the Year, which was narrowed down to six finalists including Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Tanya Tucker.

Keep reading for everything you need to know about this year’s show.

Who’s hosting?

The awards will feature three brand-new hosts this year, with Kane Brown, Ashley McBryde and Sarah Hyland set to run the show for the first time.

“The CMT Music Awards have always been about bringing the fans and their favorite artists together to celebrate,” Brown said in a statement. “I have so many great memories of the show-from watching as a fan at home to accepting my first industry award win on the CMT stage. I’m excited to join this year as a first-time host and can’t wait for everyone to see the amazing performances that are lined up this year.”

“I am beyond excited, and maybe a little nervous, to host an awards show for the very first time,” McBryde added. “Luckily, it’s not all about me – it’s about celebrating bad ass music videos and the brilliant men and women that help us create them. I’ve loved watching and being part of this event in the past and I think the fans are really going to enjoy what we have planned for them. It’s going to be a blast!”

Hyland said, “I’m so excited to be co-hosting the 2020 CMT Music Awards this year! Fans are the backbone of music and art; without them we would never be able to do what we love. I can’t wait to see what happens at this year’s show and who the fans vote for. Congratulations to all the nominees!”

Who’s performing?

Kane Brown, Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Gabby Barrett, Jimmie Allen and Noah Cyrus, Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey, Luke Combs and Brooks & Dunn, Morgan Wallen, Sam Hunt and Shania Twain will all take the stage during the evening. Caylee Hammack, Hardy, Ingrid Andress, Mickey Guyton, Riley Green and Travis Denning will perform on the Ram Trucks Side Stage at varying points throughout the show.

Who’s presenting?

This year’s presenters include Brandi Carlile, Demi Lovato, Diplo, Idina Menzel, Jessica Chastain, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Rob Thomas, Tanya Tucker and Taylor Swift.

Who’s nominated?

Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett lead the way with three nominations each while several other artists have multiple nods — see all of this year’s nominations here. While the show was originally scheduled for June, the nominations were not announced until September. This year, the CMT Music Awards added a Quarantine Video of the Year category, which will honor an artist who got creative with their visual content during the pandemic. It was announced on Tuesday that Jennifer Nettles will be honored with the first-ever “CMT Equal Play Award” for her work in advocating for female artists.

How to watch

The 2020 CMT Music Awards will air Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. ET on CMT with a six-network simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land. It will livestream on CMT.com as well as the websites of the other partner networks and the MTV and Paramount Network apps. If you don’t have cable, you can stream CMT online with a free trial to Hulu + Live TV or watch with a free 7-day trial to Fubo TV.