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.
