Cody Johnson Brings Home CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year Award at the 2022 CMTs
The inaugural CMT Digital First Performance of the Year Awards has been awarded to Cody Johnson at the 2022 CMT Music Awards on Monday night (Apr. 11).
His victory was announced before the show began. He won the award for the CMT Campfire Sessions performance of his song, "Dear Rodeo."
"#COJONATION, you did it!" Reads a post on CMT's Twitter feed, celebrating Johnson's victory. It's an especially monumental win for Johnson because it's his first CMT Awards trophy. The singer earned his first nominations at the awards show in 2022.
The Digital First Performance of the Year Award highlights standout performances from CMT's digital content platforms. For its first year, there was plenty of great material to choose from.
The winning video beat out Brittney Spencer's "Sober & Skinny (from CMT Campfire Sessions)," Carly Pearce's "Dear Miss Loretta (from CMT :60 Songs), Jon Pardi's "On the Other Hand / Forever and Ever, Amen (in honor of CMT Artist of a Lifetime Randy Travis)," Josh Turner LIVE (from CMT Kickback) and Lainey Wilson's "Things a Man Oughta Know (from the CMT Studio.)"
"Dear Rodeo" is a perfect choice for a CMT Campfire Sessions version: Introspective and personal, it's the singer's complicated love letter to the rodeo that he loved — and ultimately left. Johnson began his life with a career in the rodeo, but pivoted into country music, and "Dear Rodeo" speaks to that experience.
Johnson is a first-time nominee at the CMT Music Awards this year, but he's already a contender in the show's biggest category. His music video for ''Til You Can't" is one of three finalists for the coveted Video of the Year Award, vying against Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood's "If I Didn't Love You" and Kane Brown's "One Mississippi."
The 2022 CMT Music Awards will air live from Nashville on CBS. This year marked the first time that the awards show has aired on a major network. Kelsea Ballerini, Anthony Mackie and Kane Brown are hosting the show; Brown was a last-minute addition to the hosting lineup. Ballerini received a positive COVID-19 test in the day leading up to the CMTs and had to sit out the show. However, she'll still fulfill her co-hosting duties remotely from home.