From Cash to Carrie: All the hosts of the CMA Awards through the years

Since 1967, the Country Music Association Awards have brought the brightest stars in country music together for a night honoring the incredible accomplishments of artists, songwriters, musicians, producers, engineers and more. Often called "country music's biggest night," the tone of the annual event is always set by its host — or hosts — as they honor their fellow artists. 

Take a walk down memory lane by flipping through the gallery below for a look back at the CMA Awards' hosts throughout the years, from Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell to Carrie Underwood. This gallery highlights every single host in the history of the CMA Awards. 

In 1967, Bobbie Gentry teamed up with Sonny James, best known as the “Southern Gentleman,” to host the first-ever Country Music Association Awards. The ceremony was held at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, and it was not televised to the public. At the Awards, Loretta Lynn became the first winner of the Female Vocalist of the Year. 

Silver screen stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans hosted the second CMA Awards, and appropriately, the Awards’ first televised ceremony aired on Nov. 20, 1968. That year, Glen Campbell took home his first coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy. 

Best known for that deep baritone voice and songs like “Sixteen Tons,” Tennessee Ernie Ford hosted the CMA Awards in 1969, 1970 and 1971. 

Four years after winning Entertainer of the Year in 1968, Glen Campbell hosted the CMA Awards in 1972. In 1975, Campbell returned for a second appearance as host alongside Charley Pride. 

At the height of his fame, “Man In Black” Johnny Cash hosted the CMA Awards in four non-consecutive years — 1973, 1974, 1977 and 1978. Between Cash’s hosting gigs, in ‘73 and ‘74, the CMA Awards moved from the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, to the brand-new Grand Ole Opry House.

At the ninth annual CMA Awards in 1975, Charley Pride hosted the televised ceremony at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville alongside Glen Campbell. Four years prior, in 1971, Pride won Entertainer of the Year. 

Johnny Cash returned to his hosting duties at the CMA Awards in 1976, sharing the stage with fellow entertainer and "Hee Haw" host Roy Clark.

One of only a few artists who have hosted the CMA Awards four times or more, Kenny Rogers emceed the ceremonies solo in 1977, 1984 and 1987. In 1989 he returned and was joined by Anne Murray as co-host. 

Country superstar Barbara Mandrell and singer-songwriter Mac Davis co-hosted the CMA Awards for three years in the early ‘80s: 1980, 1981 and 1982. In the first two years she hosted, Mandrell became the first artist to ever win the Entertainer of the Year award twice. 

In perhaps the oddest duo of CMA Awards hosts, straight-laced singer Anne Murray and country outlaw Willie Nelson teamed up to host the 1983 CMA Awards. Also strangely, the year prior, the two both won an American Music Award in a tie for the Favorite Country Single. 

After Kenny Rogers hosted the CMA Awards in 1984, Anne Murray returned to her hosting duties again in 1985, this time alongside musician and actor Kris Kristofferson. Murray returned in 1989 to host alongside Kenny Rogers. 

After hosting the CMA Awards alongside Anne Murray in 1985, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson assumed hosting duties together in 1986. The longtime friends had formed what is perhaps the most iconic country group of all time, The Highwaymen, alongside Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings just one year earlier. 

In 1998, Dolly Parton became the first woman to host the CMA Awards solo. In the years following, Parton has been an awards show mainstay thanks to her glowing personality and bottomless wit. 

Reba McEntire made her CMA Awards hosting debut in 1990 alongside Randy Travis and then hosted the awards solo in 1991. In 1992 she returned to the stage with Vince Gill, who would go on to host the awards for 11 years in a row. 

In 1991, Randy Travis joined Reba McEntire to host his first CMA Awards. All three years prior, he was a nominee for Entertainer of the Year, and he took home Male Vocalist of the Year in 1988. 

Four years after his acclaimed major-label debut, "Killin' Time," Clint Black hosted the 1993 CMA Awards alongside Vince Gill, who went on to host the show solo until 2003. 

Starting in 1994, Vince Gill hosted the CMA Awards for more than a decade. Before that, though, he’d shared hosting duties with Reba McEntire in 1992 and Clint Black in 1993. Gill was “relieved” of his hosting duties in 2004, when Brooks & Dunn took over. 

After winning armfuls of CMA Awards of their own in the Duo of the Year category, Brooks & Dunn hosted the ceremony in Nashville starting in 2004 and ending in 2006. During their tenure as hosts, the Country Music Association headed to New York City for its 39th annual awards in 2005, hosted at Madison Square Garden. The next year, the Awards settled in their current home, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. 

From 2008 to 2018, the charismatic, often kooky duo of Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood has hosted the CMA Awards. In that time they've shared plenty of jokes, goofy songs and hijinks. In 2019, Underwood will return to the CMA Awards, but Paisley's been replaced with "special guest hosts" Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. 

For the first time in the show's history, the 2019 CMA Awards were hosted by a trio of women, the legendary Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and Carrie Underwood. It was an effort to recognize the achievements of women in country music, something the industry hasn't always done a particularly great job of. 

In November 2020, Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker teamed up to host the 54th annual CMA Awards, which were marked with chaos as multiple artists had to drop out of the event due to positive COVID tests. 

A sort of return to normalcy, the CMA Awards (mostly) went off as usual in 2021. Luke Bryan hosted the night, the first solo host since Vince Gill's eight-year run as a solo host, which started in 1994. 

Luke Bryan returned for CMA Awards hosting duties in 2022, this time joined by legendary football quarterback Peyton Manning. The duo of goofballs brought some real comedic relief to the ceremony.