Hearing your name called even once is a thrill, but repeating is the ultimate goal.
From left: The Chicks, Alabama and Lady A.
Illustration by Eleanor Shakespeare
Old Dominion has a chance to make history at the 58th annual CMA Awards on Nov. 20, becoming the first group to win vocal group of the year seven years in a row. Three other groups have won six years running – The Statler Brothers (1972-77), Rascal Flatts (2003-08) and Little Big Town (2012-17).
A couple of important notes: After their six-year winning streak, The Statlers came back to win three more times in the category, for a total of nine nonconsecutive wins – the most cumulative wins by any group. And The Judds won either vocal group of the year or vocal duo of the year seven years running (1985-91). But their wins were divided between those two categories.
This requires a bit of explanation. In the three years that The Judds won vocal group of the year (1985-87), the vocal duo of the year category was reserved for one-off collaborations, not ongoing duos. In 1988, collaborations were shifted to a new category, vocal event of the year; vocal duo of the year became reserved for ongoing established duos. (In 2004, vocal event of the year was renamed musical event of the year.)
Once CMA voters embrace a group in this category, there’s a very good chance that act is going to settle in for a long winning streak. There were five different winners in the first five years of the award (1967-71), but since 1972, all but two winners – The Oak Ridge Boys and Lonestar – have won multiple awards in the category.
Here’s a look back at all the groups who have won the CMA Award for vocal group of the year multiple times.
Highway 101, 2
Won: 1988, 1989
Highway 101 was the first co-ed group (as opposed to a duo) to win in this category. The group was founded in 1986 in Los Angeles. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals) and Scott “Cactus” Moser (drums). Prior to the band’s founding, Carlson was a solo artist.
Kentucky Headhunters, 2
Won: 1990, 1991
The Kentucky Headhunters were the second group (following Alabama) to win in this category with a name that saluted their home state. The members are Doug Phelps (bass guitar, vocals), Greg Martin (lead guitar, vocals) and brothers Richard Young (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Fred Young (drums, vocals). The group was founded in 1968. The Youngs and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps (lead vocals, harmonica) and Doug Phelps to the lineup.
The Mavericks, 2
Won: 1995, 1996
The Mavericks hail from Miami. The band consists of Raúl Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar) and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in 1989 along with since-departed Robert Reynolds (bass guitar) and Ben Peeler (lead guitar).
Alabama, 3
Won: 1981, 1982, 1983
Alabama was the first group to win this category with a name that saluted their home state. The band was founded in Fort Payne, Alabama in 1969 by Randy Owen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and his cousin Teddy Gentry (bass, backing vocals). They were soon joined by another cousin, Jeff Cook (lead guitar, fiddle, and keyboards). First working under the name Young Country and then Wildcountry, they changed their name to Alabama in 1977.
The Judds, 3
Won: 1985, 1986, 1987
The Judds were the first all-woman group to win in this category. They won vocal group of the year three times before the CMA moved them to the vocal duo of the year category, which they won the next four years (1988-91). The Judds consisted of lead vocalist Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. After Naomi was diagnosed with hepatitis C, the duo disbanded and Wynonna began a successful solo career. Following a long battle with physical and mental health issues and shortly after they had announced a reunion tour, Naomi Judd died by suicide in 2022.
Lady A, 3
Won: 2009, 2010, 2011
Lady A was the second co-ed group (following Highway 101) to win in this category. Formed in Nashville in 2006, the group is composed of Hillary Scott (vocals), Charles Kelley (vocals, guitar), and Dave Haywood (vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin). Scott is the daughter of country music singer Linda Davis; Kelley is the brother of pop singer Josh Kelley. The band abbreviated their name from Lady Antebellum to Lady A in June 2020 to get away from the name’s associations with the Antebellum South. The name change came amid the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Diamond Rio, 4
Won: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997
The Mavericks interrupted Diamond Rio’s winning streak by winning in 1995 and 1996, but Diamond Rio came back to win again in 1997. Diamond Rio was founded in 1982 as an attraction for at the Nashville’s Opryland USA theme park in Nashville. After undergoing several membership changes in its early years, the band consisted of the same six members from 1989 to 2022: Marty Roe (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Johnson (mandolin, guitar, fiddle, tenor vocals), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Brian Prout (drums), Dan Truman (keyboards) and Dana Williams (bass guitar, baritone vocals).
The Chicks, 4
Won: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
The Chicks were the second group comprised entirely of women to win in the category, following The Judds. Lonestar interrupted The Chicks’ winning streak in 2001, before The Chicks came back to win again in 2002. The Chicks were formed in Dallas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Strayer (vocals, guitar, banjo, Dobro). Maguire and Strayer, both née Erwin, founded the band in 1989. Like Lady A, The Chicks changed their name in 2020 amid that year’s racial reckoning. They had previously been known as Dixie Chicks.
Rascal Flatts, 6
Won: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Rascal Flatts was the second group to win six years in a row in this category, following The Statler Brothers. The trio, founded in 1999 in Nashville, consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox’s second cousin. LeVox and DeMarcus are both natives of Columbus, Ohio. They have recently reunited for a 2025 tour.
Little Big Town, 6
Won: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Little Big Town was the third group to win six years in a row in this category, following The Statler Brothers and Rascal Flatts. Little Big Town has won in this category more often than any other co-ed group. The quartet has had the same four members since its founding in 1998: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fairchild and Westbrook have been a married couple since 2006. Little Big Town’s musical style is rooted in four-part vocal harmonies, with the members taking turns as lead vocalist.
Old Dominion, 6
Won: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Old Dominion is the fourth group to win six years in a row in this category, following The Statler Brothers, Rascal Flatts and Little Big Town. Old Dominion, which was formed in Nashville, consists of songwriters Matthew Ramsey (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Trevor Rosen (rhythm guitar, keyboards), Whit Sellers (drums), Geoff Sprung (bass guitar), and Brad Tursi (lead guitar).
The Statler Brothers, 9
Won: 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984
In addition to having won the most total awards in this category, The Statlers are the only group with three separate stints as winners in the category. The group won six years in a row, then lost to The Oak Ridge Boys in 1978; won two more times, then lost to Alabama from 1981-83, and won yet again in 1984 for a ninth and final time. The Statlers, a country and gospel vocal group from Staunton, Virginia, was formed in 1955. From 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers for Johnny Cash.
