Charlie Rich "lights up" John Denver When presenting the
Entertainer of the Year award at the 1975 ceremony,
Charlie Rich, who appeared to be intoxicated after drinking backstage and was allegedly taking pain medication for a broken foot, opened the envelope to reveal the winner. When he saw that
John Denver had been chosen, Rich pulled out his lighter and burned the envelope, sarcastically declaring that the winner was "my friend, Mr. John Denver". Many saw Rich's actions as a protest towards pop artists crossing over into country music and it remains one of the most discussed moments in CMA history.
Kathy Mattea's AIDS speech During a time when the rest of the entertainment industry were wearing red ribbons to signify solidarity and promote awareness of the
AIDS epidemic, in an attempt to steer clear of controversy, the CMA instead encouraged guests to wear green ribbons to signify environmental awareness. This did not sit well with
Kathy Mattea, who had lost several friends to the disease, and she requested the CMA's help in drafting a short speech on the issue, but they ignored her request and she took matters into her own hands. At the 1992 ceremony while presenting an award, Mattea wore three red ribbons and one green ribbon and announced the names of her friends who had succumbed to AIDS and delivered an impassioned speech that created a discussion and elevated AIDS awareness among the Nashville community. Mattea went on to become a staunch advocate for the cause, releasing the album
Red Hot + Country two years later to raise funds for AIDS charities.
Alan Jackson's 1999 performance On May 8, 1999,
George Jones released "
Choices", a song written by Mike Curtis and
Billy Yates, that featured an accompanying music video which depicted his struggles with substance abuse. The song subsequently became a Top 30 hit for Jones and was nominated for
Single of the Year at the 1999 CMA Awards, with the CMA inviting him to perform a shortened version at the ceremony. Jones felt insulted that the CMA requested he remove part of the song and declined the invitation.
Alan Jackson, who was slated to perform his current single "
Pop a Top", was offended that the CMA had denied Jones the opportunity to sing the full song, and so during his performance, he stopped his own band mid-song and proceeded to sing the chorus of "Choices", which went on to earn a standing ovation from the audience.
Beyoncé 50th anniversary performance At the
50th CMA Awards in 2016,
Beyoncé, along with
The Chicks, performed a medley of "
Daddy Lessons" from her 2016
Lemonade album and The Chicks' 2002 hit "
Long Time Gone". While many viewers and critics praised the performance, it garnered criticism from some country traditionalists, who stated that Beyoncé, a pop/R&B artist, had no place at a country music awards show. The comments polarized opinions, with some noting that they could be seen as a racist attack, as previous collaborations with non-country artists had not received the same amount of criticism and some suggesting that old grudges against the Chicks had fueled the extreme responses to their performance, after their first performance since their
comments about George Bush resulted in them being blacklisted from the industry. Many artists including
Dierks Bentley and
Karen Fairchild defended the performance while others did not, including
Alan Jackson who reportedly left the arena.
Accusations of bias against black artists Over the years numerous publications, websites, and magazine on country music have accused the association of discriminating African-American country artists, and particularly black female artists in the selection of nominations and award winners. Through the years US nonprofit civil rights organization
Color of Change president Rashad Robinson has accused the ceremony of not recognizing African American country musicians and the history of the genre. At the
58th CMA Awards, the nominating committee was accused of purposefully snubbing
Beyoncé's eighth
studio album,
Cowboy Carter, as well as the
lead single, "
Texas Hold 'Em", even though it's not clear if any of her works were submitted to the nominating committee that year. ==See also==