Garth Brooks withdraws from CMA Awards' Entertainer of the Year category

A version of this story will appear in Thursday's The Oklahoman.

Garth Brooks withdraws from top CMA Awards category

Garth Brooks hopes that last year's lucky No. 7 will be his last Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year victory.

As previously reported, the Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer announced Wednesday morning during a virtual news conference that he is removing himself going forward from consideration for the CMA Awards' top prize.

"My number is seven ... and we feel very lucky with seven. And it's time for somebody else to hold that award and know what that Entertainer (trophy) feels like because they're all out there busting their butts," Brooks said in the Zoom press conference that also aired on Facebook Live.

As previously reported, Brooks, who was already the record holder for most wins in the top category, received the CMA's Entertainer of the Year title last year after previously garnering the prize in 2017, 2016, 1998, 1997, 1992 and 1991.

Despite his legendary career and dominance in the category, Brooks' 2019 win came as a shock to many fans and industry watchers who had predicted that Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood would win the top prize and become the first female Entertainer of the Year since Taylor Swift in 2011.

"You pretty much saw what happened after the CMAs, all the way through the new year. It got a little — I don't know, it just wasn't fun, let's put it that way, OK. And at my age, what I do is fun stuff," said Brooks, 58.

Twitter inspiration

Noting he is "extremely competitive," Brooks said he would still would like to be considered in other CMA Awards categories as well as for the Academy of Country Music Awards.

But the former Owasso resident said he was inspired to withdraw his name from the CMA Entertainer of the Year category after seeing a tweet about last year's win.

"It said, 'Hey man, this guy, why doesn't he step down and just have the Entertainer for the next generation?' One hundred percent agreed. ... So, with all the love in the world and all the gratefulness - because the last thing I want to do is seem ungrateful to the CMAs and everybody that has voted for us - we are officially pulling ourselves out of Entertainer of the Year ... from here on out," Brooks said.

"This one tweet I just looked at it and said, 'You know what, you're right.' And so when you do that, what do you do? You can't sleep at night until you make it right in your own head."

After last November's show, the Oklahoma State University graduate said he approached the CMA with the idea of moving him into an "Entertainer of the Year Emeritus" status and out of contention.

"They were very sweet to entertain that thought, so they had meetings ... and they just came back and said, 'It's not our call. We cannot pull you out of an award.' So, today we sit here with and humbly ask with all the gratefulness and love in the world: we are going to do it ourselves," he said.

Show rules

A CMA representative confirmed by email that nominees and winners of the CMA Awards are selected by the vote of eligible members of the Country Music Association and not by the CMA itself.

The longstanding CMA Awards rules don't allow individuals to remove themselves from the balloting process at any point, according to a statement from the association, which means it's up to the about 7,000 voting members to decide whether to honor Brooks' request.

The 2020 CMA Awards second ballot will be emailed to eligible voting members Friday. If voters have nominated Brooks in the first round, his name will appear on the second ballot. It will then be up to voters in this second round to select their top finalists.

The final 2020 CMA Awards nominees, which will consist of five candidates in each category, will be announced in the coming weeks, with a final round of voting taking place in October.

The 54th Annual CMA Awards are slated to air on ABC in November.

Brooks said he wanted to make his wishes known before the second ballot went out Friday. He originally planned to make the announcement in June at the CMA Fest in Nashville, Tennessee, but the event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"So, I'm extremely excited about the future for us, but the truth is, the main thing right now is us as a planet and this pandemic," he said during the wide-ranging presser.

"I don't know how Entertainer of the Year (this year) is going to be judged. But here's the blessing and the curse: When things are at their worst, people turn to our entertainers to kind of lift them up. So, all of our brothers and sisters out there in country and other genres are working ... probably more this year to try and figure out different ways to get to the people and get their music to the people so we can all take that deep breath in - and I applaud them for it. ... Whoever gets it, it's going to be well deserved."

COVID-19 scare

Earlier this month, Brooks and his wife and fellow country superstar Trisha Yearwood delayed a planned Facebook Live acoustic concert after someone in their circle was exposed to COVID-19. He revealed in Wednesday's press conference that his youngest daughter, Allie, 24, a fellow country singer who performs as Allie Colleen, tested positive for the virus.

Although Brooks and Yearwood hadn't seen her since before her exposure, their camp still took precautions.

“Her husband works with us every day, so that was the possible scare. So everybody went and got tested. Everybody tested negative, so we were back up and running pretty quick. She quarantined for another 14 days after her time as well, so she’s feeling great. And we thank everybody for their concern," Brooks said.

The award-winning singer-songwriter said his daughter only suffered a sore throat from the virus.

"Truth is, as a parent, nobody knows what COVID's going to do in the future. So you just watch over them, hug them. You pray for them a lot. Hopefully, she'll come out of this thing with just that. That would be wonderful. My love and heart goes out to those parents that are losing children," he said.

Bright future

Brooks also announced Wednesday that his stadium tour stop slated for Aug. 22 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas has been postponed to Feb. 27, 2021. It is the third stadium tour date he has shifted due to the pandemic.a

He said dates on the stadium tour have been planned out through summer 2022, although not all of them have been announced.

"In the summer '22, possibly the biggest gig of my career comes together to be the end of this stadium tour. But what's happened now with COVID is now we know we've got three sell-outs we've got to go back and get. ... So, if the green flag does drop in '21, know that we're twice as busy in '21 than we planned just to make up the dates and keep the ones we have. So, everybody's working, everybody's gearing toward it," he said.

"But for the entertainer of the year, I'm going to enjoy it probably more this year than I ever have because someone's going to get that feeling ... that I know is so righteous."

-BAM