The 60th annual CMA Awards, set for November 18 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, are expected to lean hard into ’90s country nostalgia. CMA chief executive Sarah Trahern has promised new elements and a spotlight on that era, from the set design to some of the performances. But on Thursday night, November 5, one of the men who helped make that decade what it was told his fans he won’t be part of it.
Sammy Kershaw says the Country Music Association denied his request to walk the red carpet this year. And according to his management, the offer he got instead was a chance to buy a ticket.
What Sammy Kershaw Says Happened
Kershaw broke the news himself on Facebook and Instagram. “Well, I just found out some disappointing news and it really hurts me,” he began. He said he was asking for very little: a few minutes on the carpet with his wife, Mendy.
He explained that the two of them rarely get to attend industry events because of his touring schedule. This year, he said, he adjusted his tour dates and booked flights and a hotel, and Mendy had been looking forward to spending a special evening together celebrating country music. Then, two weeks before the show, the answer came back no. He says it came “after being strung along for several months.”
He laid out why he felt the request was fair: more than 50 years in the business, many millions of records and streams, more than two dozen Billboard-charted hits, a CMA Horizon Award nomination, and a lifetime CMA membership that the association presented to him in 1992. He added that the CMA had asked him to donate his time to play CMA Fest.
“I would hope I’ve earned the opportunity to walk the red carpet alongside my wife, as we’ve done before.” — Sammy Kershaw
They have done it before. Getty Images photos show Sammy and Mendy Kershaw on the CMA red carpet in 2016, at the 50th annual show. Taste of Country, which checked those photos, notes he may have walked since without being photographed.
The Reason, According to His Management
The CMA has not explained its decision publicly. But Kershaw’s management gave the press its account of what the association told him, as reported by Saving Country Music.
According to his team, the CMA said it had received an overwhelming number of artist requests for the red carpet and the show, and that Kershaw did not meet its updated criteria. He could still purchase tickets to the awards, which his management put at roughly $800 or more apiece. But the CMA could not guarantee that he and his wife would be seated with the other artists.
His management’s conclusion was short. As of now, Sammy Kershaw is not planning to attend.
It is worth knowing that the CMA has never publicly shared what qualifies someone to walk its red carpet. Each year, a wide mix of entertainers walks it. As of November 6, the CMA had not offered any clarification, apology or explanation about Kershaw.
Nashville Takes Sammy’s Side
The response from other artists came fast, some of it right in the comments under his post.
Riley Green was one of the first: “If you haven’t earned the right to be there then nobody has… disappointing to say the least.” Jake Owen kept it simple: “I’m team Sammy.” Carly Pearce wrote that “many of us wouldn’t be here without artists like you.” Trey Lewis called the decision outrageous, and Meghan Patrick asked why influencers have been allowed on the carpet when Sammy Kershaw is not.
Drew Baldridge went further. On his Instagram Story, he offered to hand over his own place on the carpet.
“I’ll give my spot up for you, Sammy Kershaw… If you don’t deserve to be there then I definitely don’t.” — Drew Baldridge
Some of the sharpest words came from Kershaw’s own generation. Mark Chesnutt, who came up alongside him in the ’90s, wrote that the CMA “doesn’t care about us old 90s guys any more,” and that the organization rolls out the welcome mat for pop stars, movie stars and hip-hop artists instead. Doug Stone said the ’90s class has been forgotten even as the CMA benefits from the decade’s comeback, and suggested he, too, might only reach that stage one day as part of an “in memoriam.”
A ’90s Celebration Without a ’90s Voice
The timing is what has stung fans the most. This is the CMA’s 60th show and Sarah Trahern’s last as CEO before she retires at the end of the year. The night will also hand Brooks & Dunn the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, a fitting honor for a duo that ruled the same decade.
Sammy Kershaw was part of that decade too. Songs like “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful,” “Cadillac Style” and “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” carried him through those years, and “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” still gets country radio airplay today. That is why his closing line hit so many people so hard:
“It’s extremely hurtful, embarrassing and very disappointing. I guess the next time I attend the CMA’s, it will be in tribute after I’m gone, if I’m lucky.” — Sammy Kershaw
He isn’t slowing down in the meantime. The night after the CMA Awards, Sammy Kershaw is booked to sing at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts in Illinois.