Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year

The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year.^[1] 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 two nominations without ever winning. The first female nominee and winner in this category is fiddle player Jenee Fleenor, who first won at the 53rd Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2019.^[2] The current holder of the award is Charlie Worsham.