The 2023 CMT Music Awards, the 57th edition of the awards ceremony, were held at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on April 2, 2023. The ceremony was hosted by Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown, aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+; an additional extended edition aired on CMT.
Background
The CMT Music Awards is country music's only entirely fan-voted awards show. This will be the second ceremony following the ceremonies move to CBS, the third for Kelsea Ballerini and fourth for Kane Brown. Ballerini dedicated the ceremony to the victims of the 2023 Covenant School shooting.
CMT Equal Play Award
On March 27, CMT announced that country legend, Shania Twain, would be honored with the CMT Equal Play Award. The award “recognizes an artist who is a visible and vocal advocate for elevating diverse and underrepresented voices in country music.” Previous recipients include Jennifer Nettles and Linda Martell.
Nominees
Nominees were announced on March 8, 2023.
Performers
Performers were announced on March 23, 2023.
Ram Trucks Side Stage
Presenters
Carly Pearce introduced CMT Next Generation of woman 10th anniversary with performance by Alanis Morissette and ladies Carrie Underwood introduced Darius Rucker and Black Crowes performance Charles Esten presented Performance of the year Darius Rucker presented Video of the Year Dixie D'Amelio introduced Carrie Underwood performance Dustin Lynch introduced Dixie D' Amelio HARDY introduced Lainey Wilson performance Ian Bohen and Jen Landon introduced Lainey Wilson performance Jon Pardi introduced Carly Pearce performance LeAnn Rimes presented Male Video of the Year Madison Bailey presented Performance of the year Max Thieriot introduced Kane and Katelyn Brown performance Megan Thee Stallion presented Shania Twain with the Equal Play Award Noah Schnapp presented the Collabrative video of the year Parker McCollum presented Breakthrough Female & Male Video of the Year Peter Frampton introduced Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute Shania Twain presented Female Video of the Year Steve Howey introduced Cody Johnson performance Travis Kelce introduced Kelsea Ballerini performance