The 2020 CMA Awards Album of the Year goes to Luke Combs for What You See Is What You Get.
Jake Owen presented the award to Combs, who scored his first-ever win in this category. Combs seemed shocked by the win. His wife, Nicole Hocking, immediately embraced him after his name was called. Firstly, he thanked his team and his co-writers that helped create the record. He made sure to mention that everyone matters and are just as cool as him.
This category was stacked with talent, like Jon Pardi for “Heartache Medication” and Ashley McBryde for “Never Will.” Old Dominion’s self-titled album and Miranda Lambert’s “Wildcard” was also nominated.
Combs was also nominated for numerous other awards. He is up for the highly anticipated Entertainer of the Year award. Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban are also nominated for this honor. Additionally, he is nominated for Album of the Year for “What You See Is What You Get.” Finally, he is nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year.
In addition, Combs was nominated for Single of the Year for “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” He was also nominated for “Song of the Year” for “Even Though I’m Leaving.” Both categories went to Maren Morris for “The Bones.”
The 2020 CMA Awards
The 2020 CMA Awards took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The show took place at Nashville’s convention center, Music City Center. 60% of the performances were performed live while the other 40% were pre-recorded.
Combs spoke about his EOTY nomination ahead of the show. “Probably. I mean, I don’t know what kind of shot we have of winning or not,” Combs told Taste of Country. He said if he wins he would thank his wife, parents, and team. “It’s just cool to be nominated for the first time. And nominated against some people that I really look up to and consider a heck of a lot more talented than I am.”
