Parker McCollum: Who Should Win New Artist CMA
Parker McCollum is nominated for his second CMA Award at the 2023 CMA Awards, which will be handed out in November. It’s actually the second year in a row that Parker has been nominated in the New Artist category. In 2022, Lainey Wilson won the award.
We talked with McCollum before he celebrated three number-one songs at his first number-one party in Nashville yesterday (9/13), and he told us Lainey winning the honor last year was the right choice. He said, “Last year, I didn’t win, and it didn’t bother me one bit. I’d already done the deal and seen the show, and Lainey deserved that big time. When you grow up watching the award shows, and you think about being on them one day… luckily for me, I’ve won a couple of them already.” Parker won the 2022 ACM Award for New Artist and the CMT Music Award in 2022 for Breakthrough Video for his “I’d Be Loved By You” video.
McCollum added that he doesn’t think he will win this year either. He told us, “This year is really the same way; Zach (Bryan) or Jelly Roll really are the ones that should win it. They really deserve it and have had monster years.”
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Nominees for the CMA’s New Artist for this year (2023) are Zach Bryan, McCollum, Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, and Hailey Whitters.
Parker did say how he feels about being in the category, saying, “Just being nominated is an honor, and I don’t think that will ever lighten up. I think that will always carry just as much weight each year. You never know when it’s the last one you’ll be nominated for or the last one you’ll get to go to, so I just try to be grateful for it.”
McCollum also knows that the award isn’t just for his hard work as an artist. He noted, “I know the team I have behind is probably the main reason why I got that nomination, so for their sake and all that hard work, I hope that makes ’em feel good and feel like they’re doing a great job because they really are.”
Parker smiled, “I’ve watched the CMAs since I was a little bitty kid, so to be able to see my face on the thing is pretty special.”
The 57th Annual CMA Awards will air live on ABC at 8 PM ET on November 8, 2023.
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