The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year. First presented at the inaugural CMA Awards in 1967 to Chet Atkins as the Instrumentalist of the Year award, the category received its current name at the 1988 CMA Awards.

The inaugural recipient of the award was guitarist Chet Atkins, who won in 1967. Atkins and Mac McAnally hold the record for most wins in the category, with ten each, while pedal steel player Paul Franklin has a leading thirty one nominations without ever winning. The first female nominee and winner in this category is fiddle player Jenee Fleenor, who is also the current holder of the award following her fourth consecutive win at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2022.

Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year

Recipients

Artists with multiple wins

Artists with multiple nominations

31 nominations

Paul Franklin

21 nominations

Chet Atkins

20 nominations

Brent Mason

19 nominations

Dann Huff

17 nominations

Jerry Douglas

15 nominations

Roy Clark

14 nominations

Johnny Gimble

13 nominations

Charlie McCoy

12 nominations

Floyd Cramer

Mac McAnally

11 nominations

Mark O'Connor

10 nominations

Eddie Bayers

8 nominations

Derek Wells

Hargus "Pig" Robbins

Matt Rollings

7 nominations

Brent Rowan

Jerry Reed

6 nominations

Randy Scruggs

5 nominations

Jenee Fleenor

Sam Bush

4 nominations

Ilya Toshinskiy

3 nominations

Boots Randolph

2 nominations

Buddy Spicher

Lloyd Green

Rob McNelley

References

Country Music Association Awards

Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year