Taylor Swift to Attend CMA Awards for First Time in 10 Years After ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ Nomination, Further Cementing Her Country Comeback

Taylor Swift is famous for leaving fans in suspense about whether she will show up at award ceremonies where she is nominated. This time, however, she removed all doubt immediately. The Country Music Association revealed that her song "I Knew It, I Knew You" had earned a single of the year nomination, and almost instantly the pop-country superstar took to Instagram Stories to confirm she would attend in November. Writing in her trademark all-caps fashion, she declared, "LOOKS LIKE I HAVEN'T YEE'D MY LAST HAW," adding, "THANK YOU CMA!!!! See you there Nov. 18." A cowboy-hat-wearing smiley face accompanied the post, a lighthearted nod to the Jessie-the-cowgirl character at the heart of the song, which plays over the closing credits of "Toy Story 5." The CMA Awards, established in 1967 and presented each year by the Country Music Association, rank among the genre's most prestigious honors, and Swift's comeback to the event closes a decade-long gap. Her previous appearance was in 2016, when she emerged without warning to present Garth Brooks with the entertainer of the year trophy, a moment that left the audience stunned. It is still uncertain whether she will also take the stage; her last CMA performance was in 2013, when she and Vince Gill reworked "Red" into an acoustic duet during her country-to-pop shift. More recently, she performed "Betty," a folk-leaning, country-inflected track from "Folklore," at the 2020 ACM Awards, which were staged under pandemic restrictions.

Regardless of how she participates, the CMA engagement sits at the beginning of what could be a busy awards season for Swift. "I Knew It, I Knew You" is anticipated to enter both Oscar and Grammy conversations once the CMA telecast concludes. Variety recently analyzed which of her three chart-topping singles from the past year might be entered in which Grammy categories, and its assessment identified song of the year as the most fitting category for "I Knew It, I Knew You," while "The Fate of Ophelia" could be her strongest contender for record of the year. For clarity, a song of the year Grammy celebrates songwriting, while record of the year honors the overall recording, a difference that influences how artists and labels strategize their submissions. The Grammy Awards, first held in 1959, are organized by the Recording Academy and remain the music industry's most-watched honors, which explains why positioning a single in the right category can matter as much as its commercial performance.

Another question lingers in the weeks leading up to Nov. 18: could Swift release more country material before the ceremony, giving herself additional cause for celebration? Hard evidence is limited, but a large portion of her fanbase believes a "Taylor's Version" of her self-titled debut will appear this fall, aligned with the original's 20th anniversary. Swift has said that when she announced the purchase of her master recordings, the debut had already been re-recorded and would be released at some point. Any intention to tie that launch to the anniversary has been kept under wraps. To appreciate the significance, the original "Taylor Swift" album arrived in October 2006, when she was only 16, and it launched her as a country artist before she ever moved into pop. That record, which included "Tim McGraw" and "Our Song," spent 157 weeks on the Billboard 200 and became the longest-charting album of the 2000s by a female country artist, according to Billboard.

For the moment, the single of the year nomination represents a sort of homecoming for Swift within country music. Just three days earlier, Billboard and Luminate reported that "I Knew It, I Knew You" had reached No. 1 on the country airplay chart. The feat feels more like a return than a prodigal-daughter narrative, because Swift has maintained genuine affection for the genre and left considerable goodwill behind, even after claiming pop as her territory with 2015's "1989." She was renowned for remembering the names of radio DJs and programmers, and those country insiders continued to speak highly of her long after she stopped servicing their format. "I Knew It, I Knew You" is far from her first country-leaning release since the crossover became official 11 years ago; "Betty" and "No Body, No Crime," both from "Evermore," carried country DNA, as did the newly recorded "vault" tracks on her "Taylor's Version" reissues. Her only other CMA nomination this decade came in 2022, when "I Bet You Think About Me," a Chris Stapleton duet recorded for "Red (Taylor's Version)," vied for video of the year; she did not attend and lost that night. As veteran country radio consultant Keith Hill once told Billboard, "Taylor never burned bridges in Nashville — she just built a bigger house next door," a sentiment that helps explain why the format has welcomed her back so readily.