{"id":481400,"date":"2026-06-03T18:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/481400\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T18:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:57:10","slug":"cma-touring-awards-2026-winners-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/481400\/","title":{"rendered":"CMA Touring Awards 2026: Winners List"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cIt takes a village to make things happen out on the road,\u201d two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Keith Urban <\/a>told the audience that gathered at Nashville venue The Pinnacle during the annual CMA Touring Awards<\/a> Tuesday (June 2), as Urban served as the host of the event for the fourth consecutive year.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sentiment was something that the attendees know all too well, as the ceremony feted the top touring professionals in country music who keep artists on the road and playing for their beloved fans. The 2026 ceremony, presented by Strauss, served to recognize and honor country music touring professionals across 20 categories.<\/p>\n

\n\tLainey Wilson<\/a> and her Whirlwind World Tour crew, which includes 35 women, took home the top prize of crew of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCongratulations to everybody tonight. I am so proud of my people,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cY\u2019all are my family. I feel like everywhere we go, they leave a good impression. They treat the janitor just like they treat the CEO and that means a whole lot to me. And thank y\u2019all so much for all the sacrifices y\u2019all made, all the time to run this circus, to pick it up and move it to the next town. I love y\u2019all and congratulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMany members of Wilson\u2019s crew also offered words of thanks, while Wilson\u2019s manager, Mandelyn Monchick, said, \u201cI will reinforce have an incredible crew. They work as a team like nobody I have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMembers of Wilson\u2019s touring crew took home the lion\u2019s share of this year\u2019s awards, picking up wins in categories including backline technician, stage manager, front of house engineer, tour video director, monitor engineer of the year and tour manager of the year.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ceremony is typically held earlier in the year, but was rescheduled for June after ice storms hit Nashville in January. <\/p>\n

\n\tCMA CEO Sarah Trahern introduced the evening, saying, \u201cWe are so thrilled to celebrate you, our touring community, and the people who make country music come alive night after night. It may be a few months later than we originally planned \u2026 but as everyone in this room knows more than anyone, sometimes you have to pivot and you make it work. \u2026 The one thing that\u2019s never changed is the spirit of the people who make it happen. At CMA, our mission has always been centered around you. We exist to support music industry professionals and strengthen the community that you bring life to every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFormer CMA executive director Ed Benson took the stage to share some of his memories of the early days of the CMA Touring Awards (formerly known as the SRO Awards). Throughout the evening, memories and moments from past awards ceremonies were highlighted.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo further celebrate the 20th ceremony, former CMA Touring Awards hosts Kristian Bush, Kix Brooks and Jon Pardi took to the stage to present winners in several categories.<\/p>\n

\n\tWilliam Dyer, manager for Wyatt Flores, spoke of the importance of mental health. Later in the evening, former CMA Touring musician of the year winner Charlie Worsham took the stage to honor those in the industry who have passed away over the past year, performing the late Todd Snider\u2019s \u201cAge Like Wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJim Halsey was honored with the CMA Lifetime Touring Achievement Award. Over the course of six decades working as an agent and\/or manager, Halsey has worked with artists including Hank Thompson, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, The Oak Ridge Boys, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, Roy Clark, The Judds and Minnie Pearl. Along the way, Halsey spearheaded having his artists perform at illustrious venues including Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and Royal Albert Hall, helping to elevate country music to a global stage. In 1976, Halsey\u2019s longtime management clients The Oak Ridge Boys and Roy Clark headlined the first country music tour in the Soviet Union, which saw them performing 18 sold-out shows<\/a> in 21 days, with performances broadcast on state television to millions of viewers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Oak Ridge Boys\u2019 Duane Allen and William Lee Golden were among those who honored Halsey during the CMA Touring Awards. Halsey was unable to attend, but accepted via video, and watched the show from his home in Tulsa, Okla. Allen noted, \u201cWe have all learned so much from him. We respectfully call him \u2018godfather.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the evening drew to a close, Trahern surprised Urban with the CMA founding president\u2019s award, which was established in 1963 and named after CMA founding president Connie B. Gay.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKeith has given so much to the CMA over the years, always with so much generosity and heart,\u201d Trahern said. \u201cHe consistently raises his hand and shows up for country music,\u201d noting his ongoing work to support the CMA, including supporting music education initiatives, hosting the CMA Touring Awards and volunteering to play the CMA Fest stadium 12 years in a row.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI want to thank you for all the years you have given to the CMAs,\u201d Urban told her. \u201cAll I can say is this is not anything I expected tonight. I love all of the road crews getting dressed up to the nines \u2026 The sacrifices you guys all know, the biggest sacrifice is being away from your families, so having a night that everyone can come and be a part of, this is beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSee the full list of 2026 CMA Touring Awards winners below:<\/p>\n

\n\tCrew of the year: \u201cWhirlwind World Tour\u201d Crew (Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tBusiness manager of the year: Jen Conger (Flood, Bumstead, McCready and McCarthy)<\/p>\n

\n\tPublicist of the year: Olivia Hanceri (OH Creative)<\/p>\n

\n\tVenue of the year: The Pinnacle (Nashville)<\/p>\n

\n\tTour videographer\/photographer of the year: Catherine Powell (Kelsea Ballerini)<\/p>\n

\n\tTour video director of the year: Dave Bergfeld (Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tCoach\/truck driver of the year: Caleb Garrett (Luke Bryan)<\/p>\n

\n\tLighting director of the year: Zac Coren (Morgan Wallen)<\/p>\n

\n\tTalent agent of the year: Becky Gardenhire (WME)<\/p>\n

\n\tFront of House engineer of the year: Ryan Dell (Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tSupport services company of the year: Clair Global (Nashville, TN)<\/p>\n

\n\tMonitor engineer of the year: Curt Armstead (Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tBackline technician of the year: \u00a0Dalton Ray Brown (Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tTouring musician of the year: Kurt Ozan (Luke Combs)<\/p>\n

\n\tTalent buyer\/promoter of the year:\u00a0 Ed Warm (Joe\u2019s Bar)<\/p>\n

\n\tManager of the year: Kerri Edwards (KP Entertainment)<\/p>\n

\n\tStage manager of the year: Allison Noah (Carly Pearce\/Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tProduction manager of the year: Chad Guy (Morgan Wallen)<\/p>\n

\n\tTour manager of the year: Meg Miller (Lainey Wilson)<\/p>\n

\n\tUnsung hero of the year: Diana \u201cLemonade\u201d McBride (Grand Ole Opry)<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt takes a village to make things happen out on the road,\u201d two-time CMA entertainer of the year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[6971,93,14067,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-481400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-awards","tag-entertainment","tag-genre-country","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}