10 Years of CMA Album of the Year Winners

Tim McGraw released A Place in the Sun on May 4, 1999. The album contains fourteen tracks and 5 singles were released. Of the 5 singles, 4 went to No. 1 - "Please Remember Me," "Something Like That," "My Best Friend," My Next Thirty Years" and "Grown Men Don't Cry." The fifth single, "Some Things Never Change" peaked at No. 7.
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The Dixie Chicks released their sophomore album Fly on August 31, 1999. Eight singles charted, including 2 No. 1 songs - "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Without You." The Chicks cleaned house in 2000, taking home not only the Album of the Year, but Vocal Group of the Year, Music Video of the Year for "Goodbye Earl," and the coveted Entertainer of the Year. To date, they are the last non-male winner of the award. That could change this year, as Sugarland is nominated in the category.
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O Brother Where Art Thou was the soundtrack to the popular motion picture starring George Clooney. It was released on December 5, 2000. No one could have ever expected the success that this album has achieved. To date, it is certified at 7 x Platinum. This was all achieved with virtually no country radio airplay. The only single released, "Man of Constant Sorrow," peaked at No. 38.
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Alan Jackson released Drive on January 15, 2002. There were 4 singles released from the fourteen track disc, including "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," and the title track, each of which topped the country charts, plus "Work in Progress" (No. 3) and "That'd Be Alright" (No. 2). The song "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" was written in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Alan debuted the song on the November 7, 2001 CMA Awards show to a well deserved standing ovation.
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Johnny Cash's American IV: The Man Comes Around was released on November 5, 2002. This was the fourth album in the American series (other albums include: American Recordings, Unchained, American III: Solitary Man, and American V: A Hundred Highways. Two singles were released to radio, the title track, and "Hurt." It was the latter song, with its touching video won the CMA Video of the Year award in 2003.
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Kenny Chesney released When the Sun Goes Down on February 3, 2004. There were a total of eleven tracks on the disc, and 6 of them were released as singles, including "There Goes My Life," the title track (which was a duet with Uncle Kracker), and "Anything But Mine," which all topped the charts. "There Goes My Life" actually stayed at No. 1 for 7 weeks. "I Go Back," and "The Woman With You" peaked at No. 2, and "Keg in the Closet" peaked at No. 6. Kenny won the CMA Entertainer of the Year award for the first time in 2004 as well.
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Lee Ann Womack released There's More Where That Came From on February 8, 2005. This album was a comeback to the traditional sound of her first two albums, after the lack of success from her pop-tinged Something Worth Leaving Behind. The CMA Awards in 2005 were hosted in New York City, and when Lee Ann accepted her award, she remarked, "I love country music." Indeed. While the album lacks the 3X Platinum sales of I Hope You Dance, it did sell over 500,000 copies, earning Lee Ann a Gold record for her efforts.
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Brad Paisley released Time Well Wasted on August 16, 2005. The album contained twenty-one tracks, several of which were outtakes from the Kung Pao Buckaroos (Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens and George Jones). There were four singles released from the album - "Alcohol," "When I Get Where I'm Going," (a duet with Dolly Parton) "The World," and "She's Everything." "Alcohol" peaked at No. 4, but the other three singles all went to No. 1, and started a streak of eight consecutive No. 1 hits. While "Waitin' on a Woman" was originally from Time Well Wasted, it was re-edited, and placed on 5th Gear, and released as a single in 2008. The song is nominated for CMA Video of the Year in 2008.
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George Strait released It Just Comes Natural on October 3, 2006. The album consists of fifteen tracks, 4 of which were released as singles. Strait is the king of No. 1 songs, and two of the singles from this album, "Give It Away" and the title track added to his total, which currently stands at 56. "Wrapped" peaked at No. 2, and "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls" peaked at No. 3. The song "Give It Away" also won the songwriters the CMA Song of the Year award in 2007.
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George Strait released Troubadour on April 1, 2008. The album contains 12 tracks, including the No. 1 song "I Saw God Today," which also won the 2008 CMA Single of the Year award. The title track peaked at No. 7. Troubadour also includes two duets. The first is with Patty Loveless on "House of Cash," and the second is with Dean Dillon, who has written 13 of Strait's hits over the years, on "West Texas Town."
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