Taylor Swift Just Defeated Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Other Legends at the CMT Awards

By Allison Schonter

It's once again a love story for Taylor Swift and country music. At the 2022 CMT Music Awards on Monday, the musician took home her eighth CMT Music Award, with "Love Story (Taylor's Version)," from Swift's re-recording of her landmark 2008 sophomore Fearless, beating out country icons like Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire to win trending comeback song of the year.

A new category for this year's ceremony, comeback song of the year honors "iconic stars and their hits that not only stood the test of time but also recently found new popularity" thanks to viral online trends, according to CMT's website. Along with Swift's hit single, the nominees included Parton's "9 to 5," McEntire's "I'm a Survivor," "Freight Train" by Alan Jackson, "Neon Moon" by Brooks & Dunn, "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" by Shania Twain. The award was announced just ahead of the show.

Swift took home the latest honor nearly a year to the date of Fearless (Taylor's Version)'s release. Marking the first of her masters re-recordings, Fearless (Taylor's Version) was released on April 9, 2021. In announcing the re-recording in February of that year, Swift reflected, "Fearless was an album full of magic and curiosity, the bliss and devastation of youth. It was the diary of the adventures and explorations of a teenage girl who was learning tiny lessons with every new crack in the facade of the fairytale ending she'd been shown in the movies."

The re-recorded album included 26 songs, including six never-before-released tracks. The album was an instant hit and broke several records, even becoming the first chart-topping album in history that was a re-recorded version of a previous No. 1 album, according to Billboard. "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" also debuted at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's original version of "Love Story" topped the Hot Country Songs chart in November 2008.

Over the past year, Swift has been working to re-record her entire masters collection, which includes six studio albums, after Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings acquired her masters in 2019. Swift said at the time that she believes "it's important for artists to own their work. I'm gonna be busy; I'm very excited." Swift in November released her second re-recording, Red (Taylor's Version), which included the long awaited 10 minute version of her critically acclaimed song "All Too Well."

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