Taylor Swift was named as the youngest inductee to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame's 2026 class on Aug. 11, an honor that brings her back to the city where she began her career. Now, she could be headed back into another Nashville institution: the CMA Awards.
Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" has advanced to the second ballot for single of the year at the 2026 CMA Awards, placing the pop superstar's Pixar song among 22 recordings competing for five official nominations.
The appearance puts one of her recordings before CMA voters again, more than a decade after she made a definitive move from country to pop with "1989."
Swift's appearance on the ballot is itself a sign of support from the country music industry. The CMA Awards begin with a write-in
round. Enough voting members entered the harmonica-tinged song to advance to the next stage.
Now it faces another vote against some of country's biggest hits.
Among them is Ella Langley's juggernaut "Choosin' Texas," which has spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the fourth-longest reign in the chart's history. It has also ruled Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for 35 weeks.
Other contenders include Megan Moroney's "6 Months Later," Luke Combs' "Be By You," Riley Green's "Change My Mind," Morgan Wallen's "I Got Better" and "Just in Case," Lainey Wilson's "Somewhere Over Laredo" and Cody Johnson's "The Fall."
Swift is credited as both artist and co-producer of "I Knew It, I Knew You" alongside Jack Antonoff. Laura Sisk is the mix engineer.
How CMA Awards voting works
The road to a CMA Award starts months before the trophies are handed out.
This year's eligibility period ran from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. There are 7,044 CMA professional members eligible to vote, with balloting conducted online by Election Services Corp. and tabulated by Deloitte.
During the first round, which ran July 6-16, voters could write in any artist or project they believed deserved consideration. Entries that met the eligibility requirements counted toward determining which candidates advanced.
The top 20 vote-getters generally move to the second ballot, although entertainer of the year is limited to 15. Some categories can contain more candidates depending on category-specific rules and ties.
The second ballot was sent Aug. 4 and remains open through Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. CT. Members can vote for up to five candidates in each category.
The five highest vote-getters from this round will become the official nominees in each of the 12 categories. Those nominees will be announced later this summer.
A final ballot goes out Oct. 1. CMA members will then select one nominee in each category, with voting closing on Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. CT.
When are the CMAs?
The 2026 CMA Awards will air live on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ABC.
Swift's CMA Awards history
Swift's CMA history stretches back two decades.
She won the Horizon Award, now called new artist of the year, in 2007. Two years later, "Fearless" helped power a career-defining night at the 2009 CMA Awards. Swift won entertainer of the year, female vocalist of the year, album of the year and music video of the year.
She won entertainer of the year again in 2011 and received the CMA's Pinnacle Award in 2013, an honor recognizing an artist who has achieved extraordinary worldwide prominence through country music.
Even after Swift moved into pop, her songwriting kept a connection to the CMA Awards. In 2017, she won song of the year as the sole writer of Little Big Town's "Better Man."
Her most recent official CMA nomination came in 2022, when "I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)," featuring Chris Stapleton, was nominated for music video of the year.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift is up for a 2026 CMA nomination. How voting works.
