CMA Awards: Country artists condemn ceremony over John Prine in memoriam snub

‘I doubt anybody will care, but we cared a lot about our heroes,’ wrote Isbell

The Country Music Association has faced criticism after failing to mention John Prine, Billy Joe Shaver or Jerry Jeff Walker during last night’s (12 November) CMA awards ceremony.

Prine died of coronavirus-related causes in April, while Shaver and Walker passed away last month. All three artists are considered hugely significant musicians by many country music fans.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriters Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires announced that they were returning their lifetime membership cards to the Country Music Association in protest.

“Due to @CountryMusic’s failure to mention John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Billy Joe Shaver at the CMA’s last night, @amandashires and I have decided to return our membership cards,” wrote Isbell on Twitter. 

“I doubt anybody will care, but we cared a lot about our heroes.”

Sturgill Simpson, the Grammy-winning artist who also played with Prine, posted a video to Instagram condemning the apparent snub.

“Two seconds. That’s all it would have took. Two seconds, literally two syllables. John Prine. That’s it. Nope,” says Simpson in the clip.

Prine’s label, Oh Boy Records, shared a statement which reads: “Country music was both the inspiration and foundation for his songwriting and performing.

“While there may be a number of artists who have had more commercial success than John, there are very few who achieved more artistically.”