Runaway June Says Carrie Underwood ‘Deserves’ to Win CMA Entertainer of the Year

The 2019 CMA Awards are just one day away, with several stars set to head home with new hardware after the awards are handed out on Wednesday. The biggest honor of the night is Entertainer of the Year, and country trio Runaway June is pulling for Carrie Underwood to take home the coveted award.

“She deserves it,” group member Jennifer Wayne declared to PopCulture.com at the SESAC Awards in Nashville this week.

“She’s going to win it, one hundred percent,” added Naomi Cooke. “It’s not because of the push for women. I really think that, had this been at any point in time and Carrie was up for this award, she would win it. She is incredible. That tour was unbelievable. She had one of the most expensive state-of-the-art light shows in the touring world, at the time. She’s an excellent performer, entertainer. She’s a superstar. She transcends country. I really think she’s going to win it.”

Wayne, Cooke and bandmate Hannah Mulholland got a firsthand look at Underwood’s expertise when they served as the opening act on the star’s Cry Pretty Tour 360, which ran from May through October of this year and employed complex staging, lighting and more.

“For us, just seeing her out there as a mom — knowing that we’re three women, and we all want to have families one day — it’s so nice to see that that’s possible,” Wayne shared. “She’s got her family out there. She performs every night. She does everything. She’s a mom, a wife, a philanthropist…She works so hard, and it’s great to learn from her in that way.”

Along with Runaway June, Miranda Lambert has also been vocal about her hope for Underwood to take home the EOTY honor tomorrow night.

“Carrie- The Entertainer Of The Year,” she wrote on Instagram in October. “Because… Currently being on tour with all female artists, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the work that goes into what we do. The most amazing job in the world. But it ain’t for the faint of heart. @carrieunderwood is on an all female tour too. The Cry Pretty Tour 360. She put out her first single in 2005 and from then on country music was changed for good. That iconic voice has been classin’ up our stages, charts and televisions for a decade and a half. The Voice. The legs. The songs. The brand. The mom. The wife. The okie. The Jesus lover. The blonde bombshell that is Carrie.”

“She blows me away every time I hear her sing,” Lambert continued. “She never wavers in who she is or what she stands for. She has stayed true & pushed herself to be better. If you have never heard her sing ‘How Great Thou Art’ do yourself a favor and listen. I have her back in this picture and I’ll always have her back. So for the sake of sequins, spanx and spray tans, take it home! You Carrie the torch! #Carrieon #EOTY.”

The 2019 CMA Awards air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo Credit: Getty / John Shearer