Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw Lead First Performers for the 60th CMA Awards

The Country Music Association and ABC have announced the first group of performers for the 60th annual CMA Awards, the country music industry's main night of prizes. The first lineup is Ella Langley, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Kacey Musgraves, The Red Clay Strays, Zach Top and Tucker Wetmore, according to Deadline.

Langley leads this year's nominees with nine nominations. She won three CMA Awards last year. Johnson, the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year, is nominated four times, including for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist, Single and Music Video. Lambert has seven nominations this year. She also holds the record for the most CMA nominations by a female artist, with 70 across her career.

Musgraves has five nominations, in the Album, Song, Female Vocalist, Musical Event and Music Video categories. Nominees are chosen before the show, so these numbers can change only if the nominations themselves are revised.

The broadcast will include a tribute to Dolly Parton. Lainey Wilson returns as host for a third straight year.

The ceremony is set for Wednesday, 18 November, from 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time. It will air live on ABC and stream on Disney+ from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Viewers who miss the live show can watch it on Hulu the next day.

For fans, the practical details matter most. The live broadcast is on the ABC network, which means it is free over the air as well as on cable and streaming packages that carry ABC. Anyone who wants to watch on demand can wait until 19 November and use Hulu.

More performers and presenters are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, based on the usual pattern for the awards. Each new name will add to a show that already has a lot of nominees on stage.