Did you know that Zach Top and Shaboozey are nominated for New Artist of the Year at the CMAs for the second year in a row?
Zach earned a nomination last year…then returned this year with five total nods, including New Artist of the Year again. Which makes no sense to me.
And Shaboozey is in the same boat, getting back-to-back nominations for New Artist of the Year.
The CMA defines the category as recognizing, “the most significant creative growth and development in overall consumption or chart activity, live performance and/or national media recognition related to the launch of their career.”
Here’s the catch. Artists can be nominated twice for the New Artist category…as long as they haven’t actually won the award, or another major CMA trophy.
So, if someone breaks out one year but doesn’t take home the win, they can land back on the list the following year. That is until they’ve had tow chances. After that, the door closes. Rules are rules y’all.
Besides Shaboozey and Zach, the other nominees are Tucker Wetmore…Stephen Wilson Jr….and Ella Langley.
Stephen is 46 years old, and Ella is well established already. So, is Tucker the only true “New Artist” in this category? One thing to definitely note is that never to old, because at 46…you too can be brand new in your career.