Maren Morris, Gabby Barrett Won’t Be Performing at the 2021 CMT Music Awards After All — Here’s Why
After being announced as performers at the 2021 CMT Music Awards, both Maren Morris and Gabby Barrett have bowed out of the Wednesday night (June 9) show. Each artist cites a different reason, though both statements leave some questions unanswered.
Barrett, for her part, cites "personal circumstances" as her reason for dropping out of her planned performance with Lady A and Carly Pearce. Lindsay Ell will fill her spot, CMT announced on Monday (June 7), when sharing the final performance lineup for the 2021 CMT Music Awards. Barrett was originally added to the awards show's lineup in late May.
Morris, meanwhile, says a "scheduling conflict" will keep her from her 2021 CMT Music Awards performance with JP Saxe. The two recently released a collaboration, "Line By Line," and were announced as performers in mid-May, when CMT first began revealing the event's lineup. Saxe will still be performing at the Wednesday night show, but with Ingrid Andress.
Neither Morris nor Barrett offered additional details about their changes in plans. CMT did not share any further information about the altered lineup, either.
Morris and Miranda Lambert are the most-nominated artists at the 2021 CMT Music Awards, each notching four nominations: Morris earned two Video of the Year nominations, a Female Video of the Year nod and a Collaborative Video of the Year nom. Barrett, too, is a Female Video of the Year nominee at the 2021 CMT Music Awards.
CMT Music Awards winners are determined by fans. Voting for the 2021 show closed on June 1, with the exception of the Video of the Year category, which has been whittled down to a Top 3 and will remain open through the end of the awards show, when the winner will be announced.
Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini will co-host the 2021 CMT Music Awards, which will begin at 8PM ET and air live on CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network and TV Land. The show traditionally takes place in Nashville each June, usually serving as an unofficial kickoff to CMA Fest; however, the annual four-day festival will not take place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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