Jennifer Nettles will receive the inaugural CMT Equal Play Award during the CMT Awards on Oct. 21.

Jennifer will be recognized during the telecast for her ongoing advocacy for women and diverse voices in the music industry. CMT launched its Equal Play initiative in 2019 in response to the lack of female representation in country music.

“As a proud part of the beautiful legacy of women in country music, I am honored to be the first recipient of the CMT Equal Play Award,” says Jennifer. “I look forward to celebrating the contributions of women, and all marginalized communities, within the country music format, and I am motivated in encouraging the non-artists, executives and investors in the industry to do the same. There is much work still to be done.”

The fan-voted CMT Awards hand out annual awards in a number of categories, including Video of the Year, Collaborative Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video of the Year and more. The show will air on CMT on Oct. 21, with a six-network simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land.

Kane Brown, Sarah Hyland and Ashley McBryde will co-host the show.

Performers include Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Caylee Hammack, Hardy, Ingrid Andress, Mickey Guyton, Riley Green, Travis Denning, Gabby Barrett, Morgan Wallen, Sam Hunt and Shania Twain, with collaborations from Jimmie Allen and Noah Cyrus, Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey, and Luke Combs and Brooks & Dunn.