In Brief:
- Taylor Swift will perform at the CMA Awards on Nov. 18, her first appearance on that stage in 13 years.
- She is nominated for single of the year for "I Knew It, I Knew You" from "Toy Story 5."
- Swift has earned 12 CMA honors, including the Pinnacle Award, and last performed there in 2013.
Taylor Swift CMA Awards 2026: Taylor Swift is heading back to country music's biggest night.
She will perform at the CMA Awards on Nov. 18. It will be her first time on that stage in 13 years.
Good Morning America announced the news on Nov. 13. The show airs on the same network that broadcasts the CMAs.
The timing was fitting. Swift has long called 13 her lucky number.
A Nashville homecoming
The announcement comes weeks after a major Nashville moment. On Oct. 26, Swift was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
She looked back on her early days in the city. She recalled the Music Row writing sessions that shaped her career.
She also celebrated the 20th anniversary of her self-titled debut album. Swift is now 36.
In her acceptance speech, she said she has been very fortunate. She has moved between genres.
She has traveled the world. She has written with many different people in many different ways.
She credited Nashville for that range. The fundamentals she learned there gave her the foundation for her creative process.
A new nomination
Swift is up for single of the year. The song is I Knew It, I Knew You. It comes from Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5.
She wrote and produced it with Jack Antonoff. The track hit No. 1 on country radio in September.
That came nearly 12 years after her clear move from country to pop with 1989.
It is her first CMA nomination in four years. She faces Ella Langley's Be Her and Choosin' Texas.
Lainey Wilson's Somewhere Over Laredo is also in the race. So is Cody Johnson's The Fall.
Taylor Swift's CMA history
Swift has given eight performances across seven CMA ceremonies. She has earned 12 CMA honors.
Nine are competitive awards. Two are International Artist Achievement Awards. One is the Pinnacle Award.
Her story with the show began in 2006. She walked the red carpet just months after releasing her debut single, Tim McGraw.
A year later, she performed Our Song at age 17. She also won the Horizon Award, now called new artist of the year.
In her speech, she called the win the highlight of her senior year.
She performed Love Story in 2008. Then came 2009. She swept all four categories she was nominated in.
She won entertainer of the year. She won female vocalist of the year. She won album of the year for Fearless.
She won music video of the year for Love Story. At 19, she became the youngest recipient of the night's top prize.
That night also showed her range. She opened the broadcast with the fiery Forever & Always. She returned later for an acoustic version of Fifteen.
She played a piano-led Back to December in 2010. In 2011, she performed Ours solo and acoustic.
That year also brought her second entertainer of the year win. In 2012, she sang Begin Again on a Paris-inspired set.
In 2013, she became only the second person to receive the Pinnacle Award. Garth Brooks was the first.
The honor recognized her success in bringing country music to audiences worldwide.
That night, she joined Alison Krauss and Vince Gill on stage. They gave a stripped-down performance of Red.
It was her last CMA performance before this year's return. She also won musical event and music video of the year for Highway Don't Care.
The song was a collaboration with Tim McGraw and Keith Urban.
Swift came back in 2016 to present entertainer of the year to Brooks. A year later, she won song of the year.
She was the sole writer of Little Big Town's Better Man. She was not there that night. The group accepted for her.
Karen Fairchild thanked Swift for the song. She also thanked her for loving songs and loving Nashville.
Her most recent nomination before this year came in 2022.
The video for I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault) earned a music video of the year nod. Blake Lively directed it. Chris Stapleton was featured.
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