The 55th Annual CMA Awards will be handed out live on ABC TV in Nashville on Wednesday night (11/10), and for nominees, one award stands out and is coveted almost as much as winning the night’s top honor of “Entertainer of the Year” and that is “Album of the Year.”

Five artists are vying for the 2021 Album of the Year honor, which honors the making of records. This year’s nominated albums are both from 2020 and 2021. The nominee’s list features two of the Entertainer nominees as well.

Here is the Album of the Year nominees.

2021 CMA Album of the Year Nominees

• 2021 CMA Album Nominee – Carly Pearce – 29 Written in Stone

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  This album came out in September of 2021. The album was a continuation of Pearce's 2021 EP, which chronicled her divorce from Michael Ray, and the death of her former producer Busbee. It contains 15 songs including the top 20 hit "Next Girl."

• 2021 CMA Album Nominee – Morgan Wallen – Dangerous: The Double Album

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  This 30 song double album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and US Top Country Albums charts, earning 265,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It was released on January 8, 2021.

• 2021 CMA Album Nominee – Eric Church – Heart & Soul

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  This triple album project was released over three consecutive weeks in April of 2021. It was preceded by the singles "Stick That in Your Country Song," which received a nomination for Best Country Solo Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, and "Hell of a View." Church said before releasing the project, "I've always been intrigued when a song is born in a writer room -- there is a magic that happens there. I wanted to put that in the studio form."
• 2021 CMA Album Nominee – Brothers Osborne – Skeletons

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  The Brothers Osborne's first nomination in the Album of the Year category. Skeletons is the third studio album by Brothers Osborne. It was released on October 9, 2020, and was preceded by the singles "All Night" and "Skeletons."

• 2021 CMA Album Nominee – Chris Stapleton – Starting Over

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  Starting Over is the fourth studio album by Chris Stapleton. The album was released on November 13, 2020. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 selling 103,000 units in its first week. It features 14 songs and was produced by Dave Cobb.

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