Garth Brooks Wants to Pull His Name from Entertainer of The Year Consideration at CMA Awards 2020

Garth Brooks is pulling his name from consideration in the Entertainer of the Year category at the 2020 CMA Awards.

The 58-year-old country star announced on Wednesday (July 29) during a virtual press conference (via People) that he wants his name to be permanently out of contention, saying “It’s time for somebody else to hold that award.”

Garth has won Entertainer of the Year a record breaking seven times – in 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2016, 2017 and 2019 — but his latest win last year, he says, was “not that fun, to tell you the truth.”

Garth received a lot of backlash from fans last year, who had hoped that Carrie Underwood or Eric Church would win.

Despite wanting the Country Music Association to no longer consider him, the organization released a statement saying that entertainers can not withdraw from consideration.

“The long-standing CMA Awards rules do not allow individuals to remove themselves from the balloting process at any point,” the CMAs shared in a statement.

If he is nominated again, he is asking CMA members not to vote for him.

“I’m very grateful for the time that I’ve got to go [win],” Garth said, but now, “somebody else needs to hold that.”