(VIDEO) Taylor Swift Returns to CMA Awards Stage After 13 Years as Toy Story 5 Hit Chases Single of the Year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Taylor Swift will perform at the Country Music Association Awards next week, her first performance at the ceremony in 13 years, a homecoming for the superstar who began her career in Nashville.

The Country Music Association and ABC announced the news Friday. The 60th annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and will stream the next day on Hulu.

Swift, 36, last performed at the CMAs in 2013, when she sang an acoustic version of "Red" with Vince Gill and Alison Krauss and received the Pinnacle Award. Her most recent appearance at the show came in 2016, when she presented Garth Brooks with the entertainer of the year award.

Nominated for Toy Story 5 song

Swift is nominated this year for single of the year for "I Knew It, I Knew You," an original song she wrote for Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5." It is her 26th career CMA nomination.

Swift co-produced the track with Jack Antonoff. The song was her first brand-new release in more than a decade to be marketed as a country song and reach No. 1 on U.S. country radio.

Organizers did not say what Swift will perform. The nominated song is widely expected to feature in her set.

Swift has never won the single of the year award. She was nominated in the category in 2013 for "Highway Don't Care," her collaboration with Tim McGraw and Keith Urban.

Swift celebrated this year's nomination on social media in typically playful fashion. "Looks like I haven't yee'd my last haw," she wrote, thanking the CMA.

She had already said she would attend this year's show. Until Friday's announcement, it was unclear whether she would do more than sit in the audience.

Not part of Dolly Parton tribute

This year's ceremony will include a special tribute to Dolly Parton. Fans had speculated that Swift might appear in that segment, but Rolling Stone reported that she is not part of the tribute. The lineup for the Parton set has not been announced.

A separate tribute to Brooks & Dunn will feature Brothers Osborne, Hardy, Luke Bryan, Marcus King and Halestorm.

Star-studded lineup

Swift joins a lineup that includes Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Cody Johnson, Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, Tim McGraw, Tucker Wetmore, Vince Gill, Zach Top and The Red Clay Strays. More performers and presenters are expected to be announced before the show.

Lainey Wilson returns as host for a third consecutive year.

Langley leads this year's nominees with nine nods, including entertainer, album, female vocalist, musical event and music video of the year, plus two nominations each for single and song of the year. She won three CMA Awards last year.

Back to her country roots

The performance marks a symbolic return for Swift, who moved to Nashville as a teenager to pursue a country music career before becoming one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

She first attended the CMA Awards in 2006 and won her first trophy in 2007, the Horizon Award, now known as new artist of the year. In 2009, she became the youngest artist ever to win the CMA's top prize, entertainer of the year, which she won twice.

Swift's shift to pop with the 2014 album "1989" took her away from the country awards circuit for much of the past decade. But she has kept close ties to Nashville. A few weeks ago, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Music City.

Her return to country radio with "I Knew It, I Knew You" has been one of the year's notable crossover stories, showing her continued pull with country audiences years after her move to pop.

A big year for Swift

The CMA appearance caps another busy year for Swift. She led nominations at both the iHeartRadio Music Awards and the American Music Awards in 2026 and won the most awards at the iHeartRadio ceremony.

Her contribution to "Toy Story 5" also brought her music to a new generation of family audiences, extending her reach beyond her core fan base.

For country fans, Wednesday's performance offers a rare chance to see Swift back on the stage where her career first took off. For the CMAs, which mark their 60th edition this year, it could mean a ratings boost from one of the world's most-watched performers.

The CMA Awards will air Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.