Taylor Swift will take the stage at the milestone 60th CMA Awards next week, the Country Music Association confirmed on Friday morning (November 13).

Swift’s return to Country Music’s Biggest Night will take place a decade after her most recent appearance and 13 years after her last performance, according to a press release. The two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year (one of only eight female artists to earn the honor in CMA history) is nominated in the Single of the Year category for “I Knew It, I Knew You,” a song she released earlier this year that was featured on the Toy Story 5 soundtrack. Swift reacted on her Instagram story when nominations were revealed in September, “LOOKS LIKE I HAVEN’T YEE’D MY LAST HAW THANK YOU CMA!!!! See you there Nov. 18 🤠”

Swift’s CMA nomination is her first in four years. She was nominated for Music Video of the Year in 2022 for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” featuring Chris Stapleton. The global megastar’s return to Nashville for the CMAs arrives shortly after she made history as the youngest-ever inductee in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (joking that she reunited with Brad Paisley after they’d “been estranged” for nearly two decades), and celebrated the 20th anniversary of her self-titled debut studio record. She was 16 years old when she emerged as a country singer-songwriter in 2006. Earlier this year, Swift was also inducted into the national Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York. She’s the youngest woman to be inducted in the organization’s history.

Reigning Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson will host the show for her third consecutive year. She’s also part of the lineup of performers, along with Luke Combs, Vince Gill, Megan Moroney, Mumford & Sons, Chris Stapleton, Stephen Wilson Jr., Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Halestorm, HARDY, Marcus King, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, Tim McGraw, Kacey Musgraves, The Red Clay Strays, Zach Top and Tucker Wetmore. Brooks & Dunn will accept the 2026 CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during the show. There will also be a special tribute to late legend Dolly Parton, the Country Music Association previously confirmed. Though it was rumored that Swift would perform a tribute to Parton, an unnamed source told E! News earlier this week that the rumors were not true. Presenters have not been announced as of publication time.

Swift remains the youngest artist to win Entertainer of the Year in CMA history, according to the press release issued on Friday morning. She began attending the show in 2006, won the first award (the Horizon Award) in 2007, and won Entertainer of the Year for the first time in 2009. Swift received the prestigious Pinnacle Award in 2013, which was presented by artist she’d opened for earlier in her career: Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts. Her last performance on the CMA stage was a rendition of “Red” with Vince Gill and Alison Krauss, according to the Country Music Association’s press release.

Find the full list of nominees here.

The 60th CMA Awards will air on Wednesday, November 18 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ABC and Disney+, and the following day on Hulu.

Sitemap