Zach Top trails Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, and Lainey Wilson, who have six CMA Awards nominations each, with five, making him the most-nominated male artist heading into tonight’s CMA Awards. Top’s five nominations beat out both Riley Green and Cody Johnson, who each have four.
“It’s wild,” Top tells Country Now. “I think I still have sort of the mindset of the underground, under the radar, up-and-comer. … It’s strange to be up for all the awards, but I’m very thankful, obviously. It is cool whenever other folks in your business feel like you’ve been doing a good job and want to pat you on the back and say, ‘good job.’ So I’m really, really proud to just be nominated for all them things.”
Included in Top’s five nominations is one for Album of the Year, for his freshman Cold Beer & Country Music, released in 2024. Top shares the category with Megan Moroney’s Am I Okay?; F-1 Trillion by Post Malone, I’m The Problemby Morgan Wallen, and Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind.
“It’s crazy, especially for my debut record, and getting that nomination feels wild,” Top acknowledges. “That’s definitely the one that would blow me away if we end up taking that one home. It’s already just mind-boggling that we’re in that category. So very, very excited for that one. And to have that stamp on a body of work, not just like a single moment or a single song, is kind of just an added sort of kudos, I guess, that I’m very thankful for.”
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What Zach Top Says About His Performance At the 2025 CMA Awards
Not only is Top nominated for five CMA Awards, but he will also perform. The 28-year-old will sing “Guitar,” a song on his sophomore Ain’t in It for My Health record, released last August.
“I’m excited. [It’s] uptempo, fun,” Top hints. “I feel like it’ll be a nice introduction to any folks who haven’t heard me before either. The song is kind of biographical to me, almost. And yeah, it is country music. If you love it, great. And if you don’t, I’m sorry, it’s probably not going to get any different.”
Top wrote “Guitar” with Tim Nichols and Carson Chamberlain. The song says, “I ain’t in it for the money / If I was I’d do something else / Ain’t in it for the fame / I damn sure ain’t in it for my health / I play this thing til the sun come up / For nothing but the love . Hey, nothing kickstarts my heart like guitar.”
“The first guitar lesson I ever took, I was five years old,” Top recalls. “My teacher asked me what I wanted to learn to play, and I said ‘Amarillo By Morning.’ It’s crazy. The first show I ever played when I was seven years old, I think ‘Amarillo’ was in the set list then. I think a couple of the church crowd gasped a little bit. They didn’t think singing about wives and girlfriends and losing them was age-appropriate material for a seven-year-old. But we’re still doing it.”
The 2025 CMA Awards will air live on Wednesday, November 19, at 8:00 PM ET on ABC, from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The show will stream beginning the next day on Hulu. Find out everything to know about the ceremony here.
Photo Credit: Citizen Kane Wayne