Country music already had some great and successful collaborations in 2023, which was indicated by the ACM 2023 nominees for Musical Event, which featured songs from Lainey Wilson, Kane Brown, Chris Young, and more. The 2023 Musical Event winner at the ACM’s in April was for HARDY and Lainey Wilson’s haunting murder duet “Wait In A Truck.”

With CMA nominations to be announced next month (August) for the 2023 CMA Awards, which will be handed out in November, we take a look at what we believe are the Top Five Country Music Collaborations of 2023 so far.

RELATED: Lainey Wilson Was Writing About The Hard Stuff At Age Ten

5 - "Life Goes On" Ed Sheeran featuring Luke Combs - Released in May 2023
This song was a surprise duet that Ed Sheeran sang with his friend Luke Combs at the ACM Awards in April. The song comes after Sheeran says he would love to make country music. The song was written about Sheeran’s friend, the late Jamal Edwards, who died from arrhythmia. In the duet version of the song (there is also a solo version of Just Ed), he and Combs sing together: “To tell me how, how my life goes on with you gone? / I suppose I’ll sink like a stone / If you leave me now, oh, the storms will roll / Easy come, hard go, then life goes on.”
4 - "She Had Me at Heads Carolina" - Cole Swindell Remix with Jo Dee Messina - Released November 2022
Cole Swindell Remix with Jo Dee Messina – Released November 2022 – The remix of this song featuring Jo Dee Messina came out not long after Swmdindell’s song topped the country charts. Cole and Messina performed it at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards.
3 - "Save Me" - Jelly Roll featuring Lainey Wilson - Remix released May 2023
While this song was initially released by Jelly Roll as a solo song in 2020, the remix version features Lainey Wilson. The two debuted the song by performing it live at the 2023 ACM Award in Texas.
2 - "Thank God" - Kane and Katelyn Brown - Released June 2022
This song was released in 2022, but it topped the country charts in 2023 and became the first song to hit number one on the country charts by a married couple since tied Tim McGraw and Faith Hill topped the chart with “It’s Your Love” in 1997.
1 - "Wait In The Truck" - HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson - Released in August 2022
Another song released in 2022 that topped the country charts in 2023. This song’s music video also won the Collaborative Music Video of the Year at the 2023 CMT Music Awards. In April, the video won for Visual Media at the ACM Awards as well as for Musical Event.