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. 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 fifth consecutive win at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2023.

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