CMA Nominees! Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift Top List

The nominees for the 43rd annual Country Music Awards were announced live on "Good Morning America" today and they include a roster of artists who are household names.

Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, George Strait, Reba McEntire and Martina McBride were among the nominees.

The CMAs are known as country music's biggest night. The awards will be handed out by reigning male and female vocalists of the year and current nominees Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Watch the CMAs live Wednesday, Nov. 11 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET and get more coverage and nominees at CMAWorld.com

Musical Event of the Year

"Start a Band"
Brad Paisley (duet with Keith Urban)
Arista Nashville
Paisley garnered a total of seven nominations -- the most of any artist nominated for the 2009 CMA's. Urban got five nominations. Zac Brown, Jamey Johnson, George Strait, and Taylor Swift each received four CMA Awards nominations.

Paisley was also nominated for Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Album for American Saturday Night, which was produced by Frank Rogers and Chris DuBois; Single and Song for "Then" (DuBois and Ashley Gorley are also nominated as songwriters); and Music Video for "Start A Band" with Urban, which was directed by Jim Shea. Urban's other nominations include Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Music Video for "Start A Band" with Paisley; and Album of the Year for Defying Gravity. Urban is eligible to win a second trophy in the Album category for producing Defying Gravity with Dann Huff.

"Cowgirls Don't Cry"
Brooks & Dunn featuring Reba McEntire
Arista Nashville
Brooks & Dunn have won a total of 19 CMA awards in their career, including a record 14 Vocal Duo of the Year Awards (1992-1999, 2001-2006) and an Entertainer of the Year Award (1996). They last won CMA awards in 2006, for Vocal Duo of the Year, Single of the Year (for "Believe") and Music Video of the Year (for "Believe"). Ronnie Dunn won an additional award that year, Song of the Year, for co-writing "Believe" with Craig Wiseman. This is the second time they have been nominated in the Musical Event of the Year category for a performance with Reba McEntire. In 1998, the three singers were nominated for "If You See Him/If You See Her."

"Down The Road"
Kenny Chesney (with Mac McAnally)
Blue Chair Records, LLC & BNA Records
Kenny Chesney has won seven CMA awards in his career, including four Entertainer of the Year awards (2004, 2006-2008), which ties him with Garth Brooks as the artists with the most wins in this category. Kenny won the Musical Event of the Year category in 2007 for the song "Find Out Who Your Friends Are," which he performed with Tracy Lawrence and Tim McGraw.

Mac McAnally has won one CMA award in his career and is currently the reigning CMA Musician of the Year. His nomination with Kenny Chesney in the Musical Event of the Year category this year is his first artist nomination.

"Everything But Quits"
Lee Ann Womack (duet with George Strait)
MCA Records
Lee Ann Womack has won six CMA awards in her career, including Female Vocalist of the Year (2001) and Album of the Year (2005, for "There's More Where That Came From"). She last won CMA awards in 2005 for Album, Musical Event, and Single of the Year (for "I May Hate Myself in the Morning").

This is the second time that Womack has been nominated in the Musical Event of the Year category for a performance with George Strait. In 2005, Strait and Womack won the Musical Event of the Year award for their performance of "Good News, Bad News." Lee Ann also won this category in 2002 for her duet with Willie Nelson on "Mendocino County Line." Strait also won this award (when it was called the Vocal Event of the Year) in 2000 with Alan Jackson for their performance of "Murder on Music Row."

"I Told You So"
Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis
19 Recordings/Arista
Carrie Underwood will co-host the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley for the second consecutive year. Carrie, the reigning Female Vocalist of the Year, has won a total of five CMA awards in her career, including three wins as Female Vocalist of the Year (2006-2008). If she wins the Female Vocalist award in 2009, she will tie the record held by Reba McEntire and Martina McBride for the most wins in this category.

Underwood, who also has won the New Talent of the Year award and Single of the Year (2007 for "Before He Cheats"), receives her first nomination in the Musical Event of the Year category this year.

Randy Travis has won five CMA awards in his career. His last CMA award win was in 1988 for Male Vocalist of the Year (which he also won in 1987). Travis wrote "I Told You So," which was a massive hit for him in 1988, when it was nominated for CMA Single of the Year and Song of the Year.

"Old Enough"
The Raconteurs featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe
Third Man Records, Warner Bros. Records
This is the Raconteurs' first CMA nomination. Jack White, leader of the band, is no stranger to the country format. He currently lives in Nashville and produced Loretta Lynn's critically acclaimed album "Van Lear Rose" in 2004.

Ricky Skaggs won eight CMA awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1985 and both the Horizon and Male Vocalist of the Year awards in 1982. This is Ashley Monroe's first CMA nomination.