The List

4 Surprising Pop Artists Who Were Nominated for a CMA Award


For a lot of country artists, winning a CMA Award is one of the highest honors they can receive. But country artists arenโ€™t the only ones who have ever won a coveted trophy. These are four big pop stars who were also fortunate enough to take home a CMA Award at some point in their career.

James Taylor

In 2004, James Taylor received his only CMA Awards nomination, and it was with Alison Krauss. The pair were nominated for Musical Event of the Year for โ€œHowโ€™s The World Treating Youโ€. The song is on the tribute album, Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers.

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Although Taylor didnโ€™t win, Krauss did walk away a winner at the CMA Awards that year. She was actually nominated for two songs in that category, including her โ€œWhiskey Lullabyโ€ duet with Brad Paisley. That song won the CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year. It also won the CMA Award for Music Video of the Year as well.

Julio Iglesias

Julio Iglesias was nominated for two CMA Awards, winning one. In 1984, the Spanish singer was nominated for Single of the Year and Vocal Duo of the Year, both for his โ€œTo All The Girls Iโ€™ve Loved Beforeโ€ duet with Willie Nelson. Iglesias and Nelson won the CMA Award for Vocal Duo of the Year.

โ€œTo All The Girls Iโ€™ve Loved Beforeโ€ is on Iglesiasโ€™ 1100 Bel Air Place album. The record also includes a song with The Beach Boys and one with Diana Ross.

This isnโ€™t the only song Iglesias and Nelson released together. In 1989, they had a Top 10 country hit with โ€œSpanish Eyesโ€.ย 

Dave Loggins

Dave Loggins is best known for his hit single, โ€œPlease Come To Bostonโ€.  But he did have one successful single on the country charts. In 1984, Loggins and Anne Murray teamed up for โ€œNobody Loves Me Like You Doโ€. A country and pop hit for the pair, the duet earned them a CMA Award for Vocal Duo of the Year. 

Loggins didnโ€™t do much as a country artist, but he did have success as a songwriter in country music. Itโ€™s Loggins who is the writer behind songs like โ€œRoll On (Eighteen Wheels)โ€ by Alabama, โ€œOne Promise Too Lateโ€ by Reba McEntire, and โ€œEverydayโ€ by The Oak Ridge Boys, among others.

Huey Lewis

Huey Lewis is included in the nomination for Album of the Year in 1994 for an Asleep at the Wheel tribute album. Lewis is part of Tribute To The Music Of Bob Wills And The Texas Playboys, a record Asleep at the Wheel released in 1993.

The pop singer joins Nelson and Jody Nix on a song called “Ida Red”. Lewis also sings on a song called “Hubbin’ It”. Tribute To The Music Of Bob Wills And The Texas Playboys also includes Vince Gill, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, and more.

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