Country Music AssociationIt’s less than a week until the 53rd CMA Awards air Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Thanks to his musical partner TJ, John Osborne has one of the best CMA souvenirs ever — the designer coat he wore back in 2016 when Brothers Osborne took home their first Vocal Duo trophy.
“When we won our first CMA, I rented a Manuel jacket, because I couldn’t afford buying a Manuel jacket, it was too expensive,” John tells ABC Audio. “And [TJ] went to Manuel and bought that jacket for me for Christmas, because he thought, you know, there’s no way you shouldn’t have the jacket that you wore winning your first CMA.”
“So it still hangs up,” John explains. “I have it in a nice bag and take very good care of it. But that was definitely the most meaningful gift.”
This year, the three-time, reigning CMA Vocal Duo of the Year defends their title in what’s sure to be one of the closest contests of the night. The category not only includes previous winners Florida Georgia Line and Dan + Shay, who’ve had a huge year, it also welcomes back the winningest duo in country music history, Brooks & Dunn.
“It’s stacked, yeah!” TJ agrees.
“Which is good!” John interjects. “I don’t know, it might be a good indicator for the health of this genre if the Vocal Duo category is a very competitive category.”
“And the group category now, too, is the same thing,” TJ adds. “I mean, that’s a lot of people in there, and just getting nominated in that category is difficult.”
Brothers Osborne are also up for Music Video and Single of the Year for “Burning Man” with Dierks Bentley, as well as Musical Event for “All My Favorite People,” with Maren Morris.
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