Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne Set for 'CMT Celebrates Our Heroes' Special

CMT’s Artists of the Year television special typically takes place late in the year and honors a handful of performers who have enjoyed outstanding success in the previous months. This year, with the CMT Awards moved to October 14th due to the pandemic, the network is producing a new Artists of the Year special to be a tribute to frontline workers during the crisis.

Joining the two-hour event — dubbed “CMT Celebrates Our Heroes: An Artists of the Year Special” — for a series of tributes, callouts, and performances will be , , Florida Georgia Line, , , Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett, and more performers yet to be announced.

“The CMT Artists of the Year franchise has always been reflective of the important issues of our time, and this year, we all felt it necessary to shift our focus to honoring the real heroes during these unprecedented times,” Leslie Fram, Senior Vice President of Music & Talent at CMT said in a release. “From the first responders and healthcare workers to members of the military, our educators, food industry workers and so many more, the country music community will come together to honor these heroic men and women.

Many different types of professions will be honored by the Artists of the Year special including (but not limited to) healthcare, food industry, companies shifting production to make protective gear and hand sanitizers, educators, military, sanitation, and first responders. CMT is looking to highlight new stories of heroes helping their communities during the pandemic, and stories can be submitted at cmt.com.

“CMT Celebrates Our Heroes: An Artists of the Year Special” will air June 3rd — the date on which the CMT Awards were originally set to happen — at 8 p.m. ET.