Country music queen Underwood makes shock career announcement

In a lengthy Instagram post, Underwood wrote about her plans for the future and discussed the many memories she’s made while serving as host, from hamming it up with her longtime co-host Brad Paisley to helping lead a big celebration of women in the CMAs’ most recent edition. I’m so proud that we could celebrate the incredible female artists that are part of the legacy of country music, past, present and future, and I’m thankful for the huge audiences all over the world that tuned in to see it. Prior to Underwood and Paisley coming aboard as emcees, the 2007 CMA Awards had been a largely host-free affair, but the preceding three- yearspan from 2004 to 2006 was overseen by Brooks & Dunn.