Ranking the 2017 CMT Music Awards nominees by number of Twitter followers

The Texas-based trio Midland has only been together for a year, they only have 4,443 Twitter followers, they’ve only released one EP, and they only have one single, yet “Drinkin’ Problem” still found its way into the Group Video of the Year category at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. Interestingly, one member of the band already has some pretty substantial music video experience. Midland bass player Cameron Duddy directed the video for Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven,” for which he won an MTV Music Video Award in 2013.

Luke Combs’ “Hurricane” is up for Breakthrough Video of the Year, which makes sense, as Combs’ first album wasn’t even released until June 2, 2017, and the North Carolina native is still only 27 years old. A win could do a lot for the young musician, who has already watched “Hurricane” hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay charts and No. 3 on the Hot Country charts, but still has only 47,900 followers on Twitter.

Another entry from the Breakthrough Video of the Year category, Brett Young has been in the biz since 2007 and has 52,600 Twitter followers, but only released his first studio album this past February. The nominated single, “In Case You Didn’t Know,” has already sold more than a million copies, and the first song off the same album, “Sleep Without You,” received Gold certification. As a side note, Young was actually once a promising college baseball pitcher in the early ‘00s, but he switched to music after a career-ending elbow injury.

“I Know Somebody” is the highest-charting song in LOCASH’s career thus far, and it was enough of a hit to also earn them a nod for Duo Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. The track is the second of three singles off of their studio album “The Fighter,” which was released on June 17, 2016. Things keep getting better and better for LOCASH, so expect to see their number of Twitter followers (53,900) increase, especially with a win!

There are a couple surprises in this particular slide, including the fact that John Mellencamp is up for a CMT Music Award. The nomination is actually for CMT Performance of the Year, which he shares with Darius Rucker, as the duo performed Mellencamp’s 1983 hit “Pink Houses” on “CMT Crossroads” back in March. The second surprise? John Mellencamp only had 66,600 Twitter followers.

Elle King’s sounds ping-pongs between numerous genres, but she’s no outsider in the country music biz. She has already won a 2016 CMA Award for “Different for Girls,” her tune with Dierks Bentley, which is the same song up for Video of the Year and Collaborative Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. Elle King is the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider and former model London King, and the 27-year-old currently boasts 68,600 followers on Twitter.

Brothers John and T.J. Osborne make up the country music duo Brothers Osborne, and they’re appropriately up for Duo Video of the Year for the song “21 Summer.” Although they have only 74,400 followers on Twitter, the bros are on a roll right now, having won Vocal Duo of the Year at both the 2016 Country Music Association Awards and 2017 Academy of Country Music Awards, where they also took home the award for New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year.

Old school country guys like Big Kenny and John Rich don’t seem like the Twitter types, which is probably why Big & Rich only have 109,000 followers despite being in the business for nearly two decades. Clearly they’re still plenty relevant, however, as the pair are up for Duo Video of the Year at the 2017 CMTs for “Lovin’ Lately,” the third single off of their fifth studio album, “Gravity.”

Jon Pardi’s 2014 debut album, “Write You a Song,” was critically acclaimed, but it wasn’t the commercial success many critics predicted it would be. Instead, 2016’s “California Sunrise” ended up being Pardi’s breakthrough record, as it spawned two No. 1 songs on the Country Airplay charts. The second, “Dirt on My Boots,” is up for both Breakthrough Video of the Year and Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards, which should help boost the number of Pardi’s Twitter followers higher than the modest 116,000 he has now.

In just the last year, 27-year-old Maren Morris has won award from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Radio Disney Music, and Grammys. Now she’s up for Female Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards for the song “80s Mercedes.” Although Morris has three previous studio albums, most of her 118,000 Twitter followers came aboard after the June 3, 2016 release of her fourth, the major-label debut “Hero.”

Old Dominion is a public university located in Norfolk, Va. that was founded...wait, what were we talking about? Oh, right, country music. In that case, Old Dominion is actually a five-piece band from Nashville, Tenn...although most of the members have links to Virginia in some way, hence the name. Although their debut studio album was released back in 2015, the band is still reaping the benefits, as the single “Song for Another Time” is up for Group Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. Old Dominion is also hard at work on a second record, which will contain the hit single “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart.”

Musician Vince Gill has been churning out country tunes ever since he first joined the Pure Prarie League back in 1978, he’s has had a successful solo career since 1984, and he’s still going strong. Although he just released his nineteenth studio album last year, Gill’s CMT nomination is actually for his vocal contributions to Chris Young’s song “Sober Saturday Night,” in the Collaborative Video of the Year category. The guy only has 190,000 followers, but that’s in no way an indicator of his success, as Gill already owns a whopping nine CMT Awards and 21 Grammys - more than any other male country music artist in Grammy history!

RaeLynn’s “Love Triangle” is up for Breakthrough Video of the Year, which makes sense, as the singer, songwriter, and contestant on season two of “The Voice” is still just 23 years old. Although the Texas-born youngster has only released a single studio album (“WildHorse,” which dropped on March 24, 2017), she already owns 209,000 followers on Twitter and earned additional nominations at the 2015 CMT Music Awards, 2016 ACM Awards, and 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards.

Like RaeLynn, Kane Brown is also 23, released a single studio album, has around 210,000 Twitter followers, and is nominated for Breakthrough Video of the Year (for “Used to Love You Sober”). The major differences? Brown - a tattooed, skinny-jeaned hipster - is from Georgia and he found his fame via social media rather than reality TV.

The monikers “Dan Smyers” and “Shay Mooney” sound totally made up, but those are the actual names of Dan + Shay’s two members. And trust us, they’re the real thing! Dan + Shay already have two studio albums (most recently 2016’s “Obsessed”), an ASCAP Country Music Award, and numerous other nominations, including a 2017 CMT nod for Duo Video of the Year for “How Not To.” This success has made the twosome quite popular, and they currently boast 296,000 followers on Twitter.

Despite being just 23 years old and having 336,000 Twitter followers, Kelsea Ballerini earned a respectable four nods at this year’s CMT Music Awards: Video of the Year (for “Peter Pan”), Female Video of the Year (also for “Peter Pan”), Social Superstar, and CMT Performance of the Year. In the last category, Ballerini, Jill Scott, and Meghan Trainor are all nominated for their Shania Twain tribute from CMT’s Artists of the Year event.

Danielle Bradbery won season four of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2013, but hasn’t released an album since that year. However, she still earned a 2017 CMT Music Awards nomination for her performance of “Close” alongside Nick Jonas and Thomas Rhett on “CMT Crossroads.” Bradbery could use the votes of her 368,000 Twitter followers to win here, as her 2015 song “Friend Zone” was a critical flop and may have derailed the release of her still-unreleased second studio album.

With Cole Swindell, we’ve officially broken into half-million Twitter territory, as the Georgia-born singer and songwriter currently stands at 542,000 followers. Swindell’s “Middle of a Memory” received a nod for Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards, his first nomination in the coveted category - although he was previously up for Breakthrough Video of the Year back in 2015 for “Chillin’ It.”

The Eli Young Band is no longer that young, as they’ve now been together for 15 years and have amassed some 543,000 followers on Twitter. The four-member group also owns six studio albums, an ACM Award, and a Grammy nomination, as well as a nod at the 2017 CMT Music Awards for Group Video of the Year. The song in contention is “Saltwater Gospel,” the first single off of “Fingerprints,” which will be released on June 16.

Considering the fact that Lauren Alaina competed on “American Idol” six years ago and released her debut album around the same time, it seems odd that she’d be nominated in the Breakthrough Video of the Year category. But then again, Alaina is still just 22 years old and her second record, “Road Less Traveled,” just dropped at the end of January. The title track of that album is the song nominated in the aforementioned category, and it also earned her nods for Female Video of the Year and Social Superstar. Alaina has 614,000 followers on Twitter, so hopefully that will drum up enough votes for her to take home at least one award.

Brett Eldredge has already won BMI Country, ASCAP Country, Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, and American Country Countdown awards, but a CMT Award has managed to elude the Illinois-born singer, songwriter, and producer three times already. This year, Eldredge will get two shots to take home a trophy, as he’s up for both Social Superstar and Video of the Year for “Wanna Be That Song,” the third single off of his third studio album.

It’s hard to believe, but Little Big Town has already dropped eight studio albums, with their self-titled debut having been released all the way back in 2002. The first single off their latest, “The Breaker,” is entitled “Better Man,” and it was good enough for two nominations at this year’s CMT Music Awards: Video of the Year and Group Video of the Year. For the record, Little Big Town already owns a CMT from 2016, which they won in the latter category. They also have two Grammys and 1.15 million followers on Twitter.

The most recent single off of Thomas Rhett’s most recent album is called “Star of the Show,” which is exactly what the 27-year-old singer/songwriter will be at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. Rhett has amassed a total of four nominations this year, including Video of the Year, Male Video of the Year, Social Superstar, and CMT Performance of the Year for his collaboration with Nick Jonas and Danielle Bradbery on “CMT Crossroads.” With all this plus 1.28 million Twitter followers, there’s no doubt Rhett really is a star.

No, not Chris Young the baseball player, or Chris young the other baseball player, but Chris Young the country singer and songwriter, who has released six studio albums, had five consecutive singles on both the Hot Country and Country Airplay charts, and boasts 1.29 million Twitter followers. This year, Young is nominated for a CMT Music Award for “Sober Saturday Night,” his aforementioned song with Vince Gill.

Darius Rucker hasn’t released a studio album since 2015’s “Southern Style,” but that fact didn’t keep him out of the 2017 CMT Music Awards. As we mentioned earlier, Rucker and John Mellencamp are both nominated for their duet of “Pink Houses” from “CMT Crossroads.” Interestingly, this is Rucker’s third CMT nod, but he has yet to win, even though he already owns a Grammy - or three if you count his wins with Hootie & the Blowfish!

Jill Scott isn’t a country musician per se, but her outstanding Shania Twain tribute at the CMT Artists of the Year event with Meghan Trainor and Kelsea Ballerini was enough to earn all three a nod for CMT Performance of the Year. This is Scott’s first CMT Awards nomination, but she already owns three Grammys, numerous Soul Train Music Awards, a Platinum record, and 1.58 million followers on Twitter.

A full 40 years after the release of her debut album, Reba McEntire is still relevant, and she’s still earning nominations and winning awards. At the 2017 CMT Music Awards, Reba is up for Female Video of the Year for “Back to God,” a single off of her 29th studio album, “Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope.” We’d tell you how many previous awards McEntire has won, but aside from her two Grammys, we keep losing count.

Florida Georgia Line, a country duo consisting of Florida-born Brian Kelley and Georgia-born Tyler Hubbard, have only been in existence for seven years, but they’ve been plenty busy. In addition to amassing 1.94 million Twitter followers and three studio albums, FGL has also won big at the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards, People’s Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and CMT Music Awards (with five previous wins). This year, Florida Georgia Line is up for three awards for two different songs: Video of the Year and Duo Video of the Year (both for “H.O.L.Y.”), as well as a Collaborative Video of the Year nod for “May We All” featuring Tim McGraw.

Eric Church has been a professional singer and songwriter for a dozen years now, but most of his success has come since 2009, after the release of his second studio album, “Carolina.” Since then, Church has become a multi-Platinum recording artist who boasts 2.01 million Twitter followers and an award at almost every major music award show, save for the Grammys (despite seven nominations). At the 2017 CMT Music Awards, he’ll have a shot at Male Video of the Year for “Record Year,” a track off of his fifth studio album, “Mr. Misunderstood.”

Despite just releasing an album last summer, none of Jake Owen’s songs are up for CMT Music Awards at this year’s event. However, Owen still managed to sneak into the show on the Social Superstar ticket, probably thanks to his 2.05 million Twitter followers. To win, the 31-year-old Florida native will have to beat Brett Eldredge, Kelsea Ballerini, Lauren Alaina, Thomas Rhett, and one other artist we have yet to mention in this slideshow thus far.

As you probably already know, Meghan Trainor is not a country musician. As you definitely know (because we already mentioned it), the 23-year-old musician is on this list for her contribution to the Shania Twain tribute at the CMT Artists of the Year event alongside Kelsea Ballerini and Jill Scott. And that’s all we have to say about that.

With a nod for both Video of the Year and Collaborative Video of the Year (for “Different for Girls” featuring Elle King), Dierks Bentley has a chance to collect as many as four CMT Music Awards in all. The 41-year-old previously won Breakthrough Video of the Year (for “What Was I Thinkin’”) in 2005 and CMT Performance of the Year (for “Country Boy” with Alan Jackson, George Strait, and Brad Paisley) in 2009. Although his major-label debut was released 14 years ago, Bentley has already dropped eight studio albums and amassed 2.39 million Twitter followers.

Lady Antebellum has already released six albums in nine years, and a seventh, “Heart Break,” is slated to drop on June 9. That might explain their 2.49 million Twitter followers and their enormous number of award-show wins, which include seven Grammys and five CMT Music Awards. This year, they only have one nomination: a Group Video of the Year nod for “You Look Good,” the new album’s lead single and the band’s thirteenth top-10 tune on the Hot Country charts.

With 16 studio albums and 2.51 million Twitter followers, Kenny Chesney is pretty much ubiquitous at this point. He’ll show up anywhere, including at the 2017 CMT Music Awards for a Collaborative Video of the Year nod. Since his body of work is so massive and diverse, it’s also no surprise that the song in contention is a crossover hit with pop/R&B singer/songwriter P!nk. The two worked together on “Setting the World on Fire” for Chesney’s latest album, “Cosmic Hallelujah.”

Tim McGraw’s fourteenth and latest studio album, “Damn Country Music,” was released back in Nov. 2015, but he still found his way to the 2017 CMT Music Awards as a featured artist on two different songs with two different famous duos. The first is a Duo Video of the Year nod for “Lovin’ Lately” with Big & Rich, and the second, “May We All” with Florida Georgia Line, is up for Collaborative Video of the Year. His last win was just last year, when he nabbed Video of the Year honors for “Humble and Kind.”

Jason Aldean is another nominee who has a shot in two categories thanks to two different songs. “Lights Come On” can earn him a win for Male Video of the Year, while his CMT Concert for the Summer rendition of “Hicktown” is in the running for CMT Performance of the Year. The first tune is off Aldean’s latest album, “They Don’t Know” (released Sept. 9, 2016), but “Hicktown” was actually the very first song off his very first self-titled album.

Two tracks off of Keith Urban’s ninth and latest studio album, “Ripcord,” have earned him nominations at the 2017 CMT Music Awards - but he actually has a total of four nominations! “Blue Ain’t Your Color” received nods for both the Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year, “The Fighter” (featuring Carrie Underwood) is up for Collaborative Video of the Year, and Urban also worked his way into the Social Superstar category, thanks in part to his 3.4 million Twitter followers.

Jason Derulo isn’t a name you’d normally expect to find on a list of country music artists, but the 27-year-old singer and songwriter teamed up with Luke Bryan for “Want to Want Me,” the lead single off of Derulo’s fourth studio album, “Everything is 4.” Although Bryan doesn’t appear on the actual recording, the two made it a duet on “CMT Crossroads,” and thus they earned a nomination for CMT Performance of the Year.

Brad Paisley’s latest album, “Love and War,” features guest vocals by the likes of Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, Bill Anderson, and Timbaland - but his Video of the Year nominee, “Today,” is all Paisley all the time. Then again, the CMT Music Awards seem like they’ve been all Paisley all the time as well, since the 44-year-old singer, songwriter, and owner of 4.18 million Twitter followers has already won a dozen awards at the event in previous years.

With seven CMT Music Awards under her belt already, Miranda Lambert will have a shot at No. 8 and No. 9 at this year’s event, as “Vice,” the lead single off her sixth studio album, is nominated for both Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year. The song also earned two Grammy nominations earlier this year, but failed to win either one. That’s okay though, as Lambert already owns two of the coveted awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance from 2011 and Best Country Album from 2015.

Currently pushing 7 million followers on Twitter, Carrie Underwood also has three nominations at this year’s CMT Music Awards. Her song “Church Bells” has earned nods for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year, while her duet with Keith Urban, “The Fighter,” is up for Collaborative Video of the Year. For the record, Underwood has already won 16 CMT Music Awards, ranking her fifth on the all-time list.

With almost 9 million Twitter followers, it’s no surprise that the uber-popular Luke Bryan has three nominations at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. As we previously mentioned, he and Jason Derulo are up for CMT Performance of the Year for their “Crossroads” rendition of Derulo’s “Want to Want Me,” but Bryan also has a shot at Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year, both for “Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day.” He currently owns six CMT wins, and we have no doubt that more are on the way.

Leave it to a Jonas Brother to complicate this list. Yes, Nick Jonas has 11 million Twitter followers. Yes, he is nominated for a CMT Music Award (for his performance with Thomas Rhett and Danielle Bradbery on “CMT Crossroads”). And yes, he’s not a country musician. However, he’s not the first person in this list with crossover appeal, and he won’t be the last either.

Getting back to country (for a moment, at least), let’s talk about about Blake Shelton and his 19.4 million Twitter followers. Believe it or not, in between hosting “The Voice,” dating Gwen Stefani, and hanging out with Jimmy Fallon, Shelton actually finds time to record music. He released “If I’m Honest” on May 20, 2016, and it’s lead single, “Came Here to Forget,” received a nod for Male Video of the Year at the 2017 CMT Music Awards. If Shelton wins, it will be his seventh career CMT.

Blake Shelton missed out on second place in this list after he was beaten not just by a non-country singer, but by a fellow host of “The Voice,” Alicia Keys. Keys has an astounding 26.1 million followers on Twitter, which makes sense as she owns a countless number of awards, including 15 Grammys! She doesn’t, however, have a CMT Music Award, but will have a shot at CMT Performance of the Year thanks to her duet with Maren Morris on the latter’s song “80s Mercedes” on “CMT Crossroads.”

Sorry, country music fans. The top spot in this list goes to P!nk and her 29.6 million followers on Twitter. Then again, who could be upset at this nod given the 37-year-old’s obvious talent? As we previously mentioned, P!nk’s duet with Kenny Chesney, “Setting the World on Fire,” is nominated for Collaborative Video of the Year.