Taylor Swift Is Returning to the CMA Awards Stage for the First Time in 13 Years
(Illustration: USA Current Affaires)
Taylor Swift is going back to where it all began. The Country Music Association and ABC announced on Friday, November 13, that Swift will perform at the 60th Annual CMA Awards — her first performance at the ceremony in 13 years.
The show takes place on Wednesday, November 18, live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and airs from 8 to 11 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, streaming the next day on Hulu. Hosted by Lainey Wilson, it is a milestone night: the CMA Awards turn 60 this year. And now, five days before the ceremony, it has its biggest headline.
Swift's last performance on the CMA stage came on November 6, 2013, when she delivered an acoustic version of "Red" alongside Alison Krauss and Vince Gill. Her most recent appearance at the ceremony was a decade ago, in 2016, when she returned to present the Entertainer of the Year Award to Garth Brooks. This time she is not presenting. She is performing.
A Nominee, Not Just a Guest
Swift does not return as a nostalgia act. She arrives as a nominee. Her song "I Knew It, I Knew You," written for the soundtrack of Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 and produced with Jack Antonoff, is nominated for Single of the Year. It is her 26th career CMA nomination, and her first at the show since 2022.
The song has already made its mark: it reached No. 1 on U.S. country radio, her first song to top that chart in 13 years. A win on the night would add a 13th CMA Award to the 12 she already holds — and nobody in Nashville will miss the symmetry of that number.
Which song Swift will actually perform has not been announced. The CMA and ABC announcement names no song for her set, and no collaborators have been confirmed for it — a detail worth stating plainly, because the gap between what has been announced and what fans expect is exactly where award-show speculation runs ahead of the facts. Parade reported she is expected to perform her nominated song, but that has not been officially confirmed.
Thirteen Years, Full Circle
Swift's history with the CMA Awards spans two decades. She first attended in 2006, as a teenage newcomer from Nashville, and went on to win Entertainer of the Year twice. The stage where she celebrated the biggest milestones of her early career is the same stage she is returning to now — as the biggest pop star in the world, coming home to country music for one night.
She joins a star-studded line-up for the 60th ceremony that already includes Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Tim McGraw, Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore and The Red Clay Strays, with tributes planned to Dolly Parton and to Brooks & Dunn, this year's recipients of the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
For fans, the timing could hardly be better. The Grammy nominations are announced just two days before the ceremony, and Swift's album The Life of a Showgirl is expected to feature heavily — making next week one of the biggest of her year. But first, Nashville gets its moment: the hometown star, back on the stage where she started, thirteen years later.
Swift's return is a reminder of how rare a full-circle moment like this is in music. She left country for pop superstardom, conquered the world, and is now walking back onto the CMA stage on her own terms — as a nominee, as a performer, and as a homecoming queen. Rosalía ruled the Latin Grammys this week with five wins, and awards season is only heating up — but on November 18, all eyes will be on Nashville.
Which song do you hope Taylor performs on the night? Share your pick in the comments.
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