Recipients
2020s
2010s
2000s
1990s
1980s
1970s
1960s
| Year | Songwriter(s) | Title | Nominees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 |  Bob Ferguson | "The Carroll County Accident" |
|
| 1968 | Bobby Russell | "Honey" | |
| 1967 | Dallas Frazier | "There Goes My Everything" |
|
| Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Country Music Association |
| First awarded | 1967 |
| Currently held by | Tracy Chapman (2023) |
The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year. [1] This Award goes to the songwriter(s) and is for artistic achievement in songwriting. Any Country Music song with original words and music is eligible based upon the song's Country singles chart activity during the eligibility period. [2] It is the sister category to the Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year, which recognizes the artist, producer and engineer.
It was first handed out at the inaugural 1967 CMA Awards to Dallas Frazier for his song "There Goes My Everything" which had been popularised at that time by Jack Greene. K. T. Oslin became the first woman to win the award in 1988 for her hit "80's Ladies". Vince Gill is the most awarded songwriter in the category, with four wins, while two-time winner Alan Jackson and 2014 recipient Shane McAnally hold the record for most nominations, with ten each. Bob McDill and Brad Paisley are the most nominated writers not to win, with six nominations. The current holder of the award is Tracy Chapman, who wrote Luke Combs' hit "Fast Car", which won at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2023.
To date, thirteen men: Dallas Frazier (1967), Bobby Russell (1968), Bob Ferguson (1969), Kris Kristofferson (1970), Freddie Hart (1971-2), Kenny O'Dell (1973), Don Wayne (1974), John Denver (1975), Larry Weiss (1976), Richard Leigh (1978), Don Schlitz (1979), Lee Greenwood (1985) and Vince Gill (1996) and seven women: K.T. Oslin (1988), Gretchen Peters (1995), Jennifer Nettles (2008), Kimberly Perry (2011), Lori McKenna (2016), Taylor Swift (2017) and Tracy Chapman (2023) have won the Song of the Year award with a solo composition.
To date, only three songs, "Easy Loving", "Always on My Mind" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today", have received the award in consecutive years and only Freddie Hart, Don Schlitz, Vince Gill and Lori McKenna have won in consecutive years.
| Year | Songwriter(s) | Title | Nominees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Bob Ferguson | "The Carroll County Accident" |
|
| 1968 | Bobby Russell | "Honey" | |
| 1967 | Dallas Frazier | "There Goes My Everything" |
|
| Awards | Artist |
|---|---|
| 4 | Vince Gill |
| 3 | Don Schlitz |
| 2 | Bill Anderson |
| Chris Stapleton | |
| Freddie Hart | |
| Lori McKenna | |
| Mike Henderson | |
| Paul Overstreet |
The Grammy Award for Best Country Song has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter.
Vincent Grant Gill is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a vocalist and musician have placed him in high demand as a guest vocalist and a duet partner.
Lorraine McKenna is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit single "Girl Crush" performed by Little Big Town. In 2017, she again won Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards for writing "Humble and Kind" performed by Tim McGraw. McKenna along with Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby and Hillary Lindsey wrote the second single off the soundtrack to the 2018 film A Star Is Born called "Always Remember Us This Way.” McKenna performed backing vocals along with Lindsey and Hemby, and the song received a nomination for Song of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
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