Country Music’s Biggest Night doesn’t always make everyone happy.
Over the years, several artists have taken a stand against the CMA Awards, either by outright refusing to attend the awards show or by pulling a stunt in protest while they’re up on stage.
The specific nominees and performers of a given show aren’t usually what causes offense. But, overall trends — especially when the awards show gets more experimental, or moves away from its traditional roots — can get singers really fired up.
Here Are The Stars Who Have Protested Or Boycotted the CMA Awards
Modern stars and legends alike have shown their displeasure at the awards show over the years. From George Jones to Jason Aldean, stars from various country music eras have picked a bone with the CMAs.
Traditional country flame-keeper Alan Jackson appears twice on this list, and both times it was because the awards show wasn’t honoring the classics to his satisfaction. However, one of the protests he supposedly pulled off is more rumor than fact. That’s the only protest we included that isn’t confirmed to be true.
And, ahem, speaking of keeping flames, let’s get to the first artist on our list.
No. 1: Charlie Rich Presented the Entertainer of the Year Award — And Lit the Slip On Fire When He Saw Who Won
At the 1975 CMAs, Charlie Rich was tasked with presenting the biggest award of the night: Entertainer of the Year. He’d won that trophy the previous year.
But after he opened the envelope and read John Denver’s name on the paper inside, he calmly reached into his pocket, pulled out a lighter and lit the slip on fire before saying, “My friend, Mr. John Denver.”
Denver wasn’t at the awards show in person, but he did appear over satellite and gave an acceptance speech, with no clue about the stunt Rich had pulled.
Was it an intentional protest of Denver’s win or of the move away from traditional country that Denver’s win represented? Fans and media outlets widely assumed so at the time, though Rich later admitted that he’d imbibed both alcohol and prescription medication that night, so it’s possible it was simply a lapse in judgment.
Still, Rich’s actions left a lasting negative impression on his career. According to History.com, he was blacklisted from the CMA Awards for the rest of his career.
No. 2: George Jones Boycotted After the Producers Told Him to Shorten His Song
This one’s sort of a two-parter.
In 1999, George Jones‘ “Choices” was nominated for CMA Single of the Year, and he was set to perform the song onstage during the show. But producers only gave him one minute of air time, and said he’d need to perform an abridged version of the song.
Feeling slighted, Jones refused, and decided to stay home altogether. The song didn’t wind up winning its category, though it did win Jones a Grammy the following year.
However, Jones’ departure from the lineup wasn’t the end of “Choices” at the 1999 CMAs, because…
No. 3: Alan Jackson Interrupted His Own Song to Give George Jones’ Hit Its Due
Jones was out, but Alan Jackson was performing at the CMAs that night in 1999.
It turns out, he was pretty ticked that the CMA hadn’t let Jones sing his full song, because in the middle of performing his own “Pop a Top,” he abruptly switched courses and sang “Choices.”
As the story goes, Jones was moved to tears as he watched the ceremony from home.
No. 4: Did Alan Jackson Really Walk Out During Beyoncé’s 2016 CMA Awards Performance?
Flash forward a couple of decades, and headlines were once again buzzing about an Alan Jackson/CMA Awards protest. This time, it circled around Jackson rising from his seat and leaving the audience as Beyoncé and The Chicks performed “Daddy Lessons” on the awards show stage.
As best we could make out when we revisited it in 2024, the story traces back to Billboard, who quoted an unnamed manager saying, “I was sitting behind Alan Jackson, and he actually stood up from the front row and walked out in the middle of the performance, so I think that spoke volumes for the traditional, real country acts.”
Read More: Alan Jackson, Beyoncé and the CMA Protest That (Maybe) Never Happened
Did it happen, or didn’t it? We’re not even totally sure Jackson was in the crowd when Beyoncé took the stage, and there are some logistical issues involving how long it might have taken him to get to the seat after his own performance.
Still, given the stunt he pulled regarding George Jones’ snub in 1999, a CMA protest to support traditional country certainly seemed like the kind of thing Jackson might do.
The singer’s never confirmed or denied the story about Beyoncé, so this one will remain a rumor.
No. 5: Sturgill Simpson Busked + Threw Jabs at the CMA Outside the 2017 Ceremony
Sturgill Simpson was a hot alt-country act in 2017, thanks to two major albums: 2014’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and 2016’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. But he was not nominated for the CMA Awards that year — in fact, he’s yet to ever be nominated at the show.
That didn’t stop Simpson from heading downtown to Bridgestone Arena and performing on the night of the ceremony, though. He simply busked outside.
It was a kind of performance art piece that Simpson put on in protest of the CMAs. He even gave a mock-acceptance speech at one point, in which he spoke out for gay rights and gun control, and said “hegemony and fascism is alive and well in Nashville, Tennessee.” (per Variety.)
He’d previously criticized the CMA for establishing the Merle Haggard Spirit Award, saying that if the organization actually wanted to celebrate Haggard, they would “drop all the formulaic cannon fodder bulls–t they’ve been pumping down rural America’s throats for the past 30 years…and start dedicating their programs to more actual Country Music.”
Simpson collected donations that night that he busked outside the CMAs, and sent the money to the ACLU.
No. 6: Zach Bryan Said He “Never” Wanted to Be Nominated For a CMA Award
It’s not just Simpson who went under-recognized at the CMAs: The organization has never really focused its nominees list on alt-country acts, mostly because they’re a mainstream show. Many of the components of a mainstream career — like radio airplay — don’t really apply to even the biggest alt stars.
That came up again in 2022, when Zach Bryan — well on his way toward superstardom, but not yet on mainstream country’s radar — earned zero nominations.
In a since-deleted tweet, Bryan told outraged fans not to worry too much about the lack of recognition for him at the awards show, saying, “I don’t and will never want to be considered at the [CMAs]…Establishments will always be weird.”
Bryan also clarified that he had nothing but respect for the artists getting trophies at the awards show.
Since then, he’s fared a bit better: Bryan received his first CMA nomination the year after that tweet, and he got two more in 2024. But he’s yet to win a trophy.
No. 7: Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires Returned Their CMA Membership Cards After Their Heroes Went Unsung
Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, two major Americana acts (who were also husband and wife at the time), sent back their CMA membership cards after the 2020 awards show failed to pay tribute to three important stars who’d died that year.
Those were John Prine (who died of COVID-19 at the age of 73), Jerry Jeff Walker (who died of cancer at age 78) and Billy Joe Shaver (who died of a stroke at age 71.)
“I doubt anybody will care,” Isbell wrote on social media as he announced that he and Shires were no longer CMA members. “But we cared a lot about our heroes.”
No. 8: The CMAs Snubbed Jason Aldean, So He Snubbed Them Back
Jason Aldean has won two CMA Awards trophies over the course of his career, including Album of the Year in 2011. But it’s now been 15 years since he notched a win at the show. He hasn’t even gotten nominated for anything since 2022!
The last time Aldean scored a nomination, he attended — and he told Taste of Country he hoped to win his first trophy in over a decade.
But that category went to somebody else, and Aldean hasn’t been nominated since then, despite continuing an active touring career and releasing successful albums. So…well, he kind of just stopped showing up.
In 2025, the singer’s wife Brittany said on Instagram Stories that they weren’t planning to attend the show because they had felt “Not much love from that one.” The couple took a trip to Miami that year instead.
No. 9: Morgan Wallen is Country Music’s Biggest CMA Awards No-Show
At this point, it would be news if Morgan Wallen did attend the CMA Awards. He hasn’t shown up at the show since 2023.
Read More: Why Did Morgan Wallen Skip the 2025 CMA Awards?
It’s tough to do more than speculate about why Wallen stopped wanting to attend awards shows. Some theorize that he’s still got a grudge after the CMAs temporarily banned him in 2021 due to his racist slur scandal. His friend and frequent collaborator Ernest once said that, simply put, Wallen’s too big and successful to care about awards shows.
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Here’s what we know for sure: Wallen’s got a track record of not showing up, and it’s hard to think of something that would change his mind on that point.
He even won the night’s biggest honor — Entertainer of the Year — in 2024, in absentia. Wallen didn’t acknowledge the win at the time, and only kind of acknowledged it months later, when he posted a picture of the trophy as a part of a social media roundup.
If that trophy didn’t get Wallen to the CMAs the next year, we’re not sure what will.
No. 10: Sammy Kershaw Said He Didn’t Get Invited to the Red Carpet — And He Admitted The Snub Hurt!
2026 could shape up to be the most-protested year in CMA Awards history. That’s a snowball that began with Sammy Kershaw, who posted on Friday (Nov. 5) that the CMA denied him the chance to walk the red carpet this year.
He says he got the runaround from the CMA, and he’d already made travel and hotel arrangements with his wife Mendy before learning that he would not be able to attend the carpet portion of the event.
Kershaw called the experience “extremely hurtful, embarrassing and very disappointing.”
His post caused an uproar among country artists and fans who know and love Kershaw for hits like “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful,” “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” and “Cadillac Style.”
Read More: 5 Sammy Kershaw Songs You Need to Know
Riley Green, Jake Owen and Carly Pearce were among the artists to chime in in the comments section, and say that as a traditionalist who helped lay the foundation of today’s country, he deserves a spot at the CMAs.
But Kershaw wasn’t the only performer who says the CMA didn’t invited him to the 2026 carpet.
No. 11: Rodney Atkins Says the CMA Didn’t Let Him Walk the Red Carpet, Either
“Watching You” hitmaker Rodney Atkins said on Saturday (Nov. 7) that he, too, was passed over by the CMA for the red carpet this year.
Atkins said he’ll skip the ceremony altogether. He also shared support for Sammy Kershaw, and commented, “Country music should never get above its raisin’.”
Nashville honky tonk Robert’s Western World has announced plans to throw a red carpet for Kershaw, and any other deserving artists who weren’t invited to walk the CMAs carpet, on Nov. 18, which is the same night of the CMA Awards.
14 Country Stars Who Deserve More Respect
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
