ABCWhen the nominations were announced for the 2021 ACM Awards on Friday, one name was glaringly absent from the list: Carrie Underwood.
While Carrie did score a mention for Video of the Year for “Hallelujah,” her duet with John Legend, it was a big surprise not to see her name in the big-ticket, end-of-night categories. She’s typically in the running for either Entertainer of the Year or Female Artist of the Year, but for the 2021 ceremony, she’s been shut out of both
Carrie has been nominated for either Entertainer of the Year or Female Artist of the Year every single year since 2006. 2021 is the first time in 15 years that Carrie has not scored a mention in either of those categories.
Carrie is the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year, having won the award in a tie with Thomas Rhett in 2020. She previously won that award in 2010 and 2009. 2009 was Carrie’s biggest year: She took home the Entertainer of the Year trophy as well as winning Female Vocalist of the Year.
While that was the only year that she won both awards, Carrie enjoyed a winning streak from 2007-2010, taking home at least one of the major trophies each year during that stint.
There are no women in the Entertainer of the Year category for the upcoming awards show: The nominees are Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Chris Stapleton.
However, the nominees list does include a milestone for female artists in its Single of the Year category: For the first time in history, every nominee features a female artist.
Carrie’s latest country single, “Drinking Alone,” peaked just outside the Top 10 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart last May.
By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
