12 Artists We Missed at the 2023 CMA Awards

Attendance at the CMA Awards is not mandatory, but when you're there for 10 years and suddenly absent, fans grow concerned.

These 12 artists missed the 2023 CMAs. It's a star-studded group. Here are the reasons an artist will attend the CMA Awards: They ...

• Have new music to promote.
• Are nominated and / or performing.
• Enjoy seeing old friends for the first time all year.
• Find the entire process really exciting.

Related: 2023 CMA Awards Red Carpet — See Country's Best Dressed!

It's reasonable to guess that as an artist ages, those last two points are less of a draw. Several artists on the list below fall in that category, but a few more veterans earned major nominations and still missed out.

Who did you miss? Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett are three we found (well, didn't find), but there is surely someone else who slipped by us. It's possible one of the dozen singers we identify were just hiding behind someone's cowboy hat, or alongside a more visually interesting celeb (i.e. Zach Bryan alongside Jelly Roll). Either way, we sure did miss 'em.