Photo Gallery: Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett Shine at the “CMT Artists of the Year” Show

It was a night of a thousand stars last night (Oct. 19). OK, maybe 10 or 12 stars, but still, it was a big night for Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line, who were honored at the CMT Artists of the Year show, which airs tonight (Oct. 20) on CMT.

The event, held at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, celebrated five artists selected by CMT as top artists of the year. In addition, Kelsea Ballerini was honored with the second annual Artists of the Year Breakout Award and Shania Twain received the third annual Artist of a Lifetime Award.

The night was filled with performances from all the award honorees, which included some big collaborations. Thomas Rhett was joined by Swedish singing sensation Zara Larsson on a mashup of TR’s’ “Die a Happy Man” and Zara’s “Never Forget You”; Luke Bryan performed his No.1 duet, “Home Alone Tonight, with Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild; Carrie Underwood was joined onstage by The Love Junkies—songwriters Liz Rose, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsay; and Kelsea Ballerini, Jill Scott and Meghan Trainor collaborated on a tribute to CMT Artist of a Lifetime recipient Shania Twain.

 

You can check out the full show when it airs Thursday (Oct. 20) on CMT at 9 p.m. ET. Don’t miss all the performances and speeches from CMT’s Artists of the Year.

Watch a sneak peek of Kelsea Ballerini, Jill Scott and Meghan Trainor’s tribute to Shania Twain with “Man! I Feel Like A Woman.”

Get More:

Main photo and performance photos by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT; Red Carpet photos by Curtis Hilbun/AFF-USA.COM

More from Magic 97.9

Weird Al – August 9th, 2025

Weird Al – August 9th, 2025

Weird Al will be at the Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater on August 9th, 2025! For tickets and more information visit: https://www.fordidahocenter.com/events/detail/weirdal25

Garratt Wilkin & The Parrotheads

Garratt Wilkin & The Parrotheads

May 24th, 2025 at the Revolution Concert House! To learn more and buy tickets visit: https://cttouringid.com/tm-event/garratt-wilkin-the-parrotheads/

James Taylor May 21st

James Taylor May 21st

The Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater will have An Evening with James Taylor on May 21st! For More tickets and more information visit: https://www.fordidahocenter.com/events/detail/jamestaylor

Dancing with the Stars LIVE

Dancing with the Stars LIVE

Dancing with the Stars is coming to the Morrison Center March 18th, 2025! To Learn more and buy tickets visit: https://www.morrisoncenter.com/events/detail/dancing-with-the-stars-live

Blues Traveler & Gin Blossoms 2025

Blues Traveler & Gin Blossoms 2025

The Blues Traveler & Gin Blossoms with Spin Doctors are coming to the Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater August 26th! To learn more visit: https://www.fordidahocenter.com/events/detail/bluesgin25

Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire

Earth, wind & Fire is at the Idaho Botanical Garden on June 17th! To purchase tickets or to learn more visit: https://www.idahobotanicalgarden.org/event/earth-wind-fire/