diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards.go
index 3fc8f469942..96260038064 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards.go
@@ -12,17 +12,27 @@ import (
 )
 
 // getDimensionValues gets the actual dimension values for dimensions with a wildcard
-func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx context.Context, region string,
-	client models.CloudWatchMetricsAPIProvider, origQueries []*models.CloudWatchQuery, tagValueCache *cache.Cache, listMetricsPageLimit int) ([]*models.CloudWatchQuery, error) {
+func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) getDimensionValuesForWildcards(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	region string,
+	client models.CloudWatchMetricsAPIProvider,
+	origQueries []*models.CloudWatchQuery,
+	tagValueCache *cache.Cache,
+	listMetricsPageLimit int,
+	shouldSkip func(*models.CloudWatchQuery) bool) ([]*models.CloudWatchQuery, error) {
 	metricsClient := clients.NewMetricsClient(client, listMetricsPageLimit)
 	service := services.NewListMetricsService(metricsClient)
 	// create copies of the original query. All the fields besides Dimensions are primitives
 	queries := copyQueries(origQueries)
+	queries = addWildcardDimensionsForMetricQueryTypeQueries(queries)
 
 	for _, query := range queries {
+		if shouldSkip(query) {
+			continue
+		}
 		for dimensionKey, values := range query.Dimensions {
 			// if the dimension is not a wildcard, skip it
-			if len(values) != 1 || query.MatchExact || (len(values) == 1 && values[0] != "*") {
+			if len(values) != 1 || (len(values) == 1 && values[0] != "*") {
 				continue
 			}
 
@@ -85,3 +95,22 @@ func copyQueries(origQueries []*models.CloudWatchQuery) []*models.CloudWatchQuer
 	}
 	return newQueries
 }
+
+// addWildcardDimensionsForMetricQueryTypeQueries adds wildcard dimensions if there is
+// a `GROUP BY` clause in the query. This is used for MetricQuery type queries so we can
+// build labels when we build the data frame.
+func addWildcardDimensionsForMetricQueryTypeQueries(queries []*models.CloudWatchQuery) []*models.CloudWatchQuery {
+	for i, q := range queries {
+		if q.MetricQueryType != models.MetricQueryTypeQuery || q.MetricEditorMode == models.MetricEditorModeRaw || q.Sql.GroupBy == nil || len(q.Sql.GroupBy.Expressions) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		for _, expr := range q.Sql.GroupBy.Expressions {
+			if expr.Property.Name != nil && *expr.Property.Name != "" {
+				queries[i].Dimensions[*expr.Property.Name] = []string{"*"}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return queries
+}
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards_test.go
index 7a18ba59f8c..2a3f5c36e78 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_dimension_values_for_wildcards_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/backend/log"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/kinds/dataquery"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/mocks"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/models"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/utils"
@@ -13,96 +14,159 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+func noSkip(q *models.CloudWatchQuery) bool { return false }
+func skip(q *models.CloudWatchQuery) bool   { return true }
+
 func TestGetDimensionValuesForWildcards(t *testing.T) {
 	executor := &cloudWatchExecutor{im: defaultTestInstanceManager(), logger: log.NewNullLogger()}
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	tagValueCache := cache.New(0, 0)
 
-	t.Run("Should not change non-wildcard dimension value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		query := getBaseQuery()
-		query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName1"
-		query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"Value1"}}
-		queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
-		assert.NotNil(t, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"], 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, []string{"Value1"}, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"])
+	t.Run("Tag value cache", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tagValueCache := cache.New(0, 0)
+
+		t.Run("Should use cache for previously fetched value", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName": {"*"}}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeSearch
+			query.MatchExact = false
+			api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value")}}},
+			}}
+			api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
+			_, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			// make sure the original query wasn't altered
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName": {"*"}}, query.Dimensions)
+
+			//setting the api to nil confirms that it's using the cached value
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName": {"Value"}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
+			api.AssertExpectations(t)
+		})
+
+		t.Run("Should not cache when no values are returned", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName2": {"*"}}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeSearch
+			query.MatchExact = false
+			api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{}}
+			api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			// assert that the values was set to an empty array
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName2": {}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
+
+			// Confirm that it calls the api again if the last call did not return any values
+			api.Metrics = []*cloudwatch.Metric{
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value")}}},
+			}
+			api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
+			queries, err = executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName2": {"Value"}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
+			api.AssertExpectations(t)
+		})
 	})
 
-	t.Run("Should not change exact dimension value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		query := getBaseQuery()
-		query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName1"
-		query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"*"}}
-		queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
-		assert.NotNil(t, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"])
-		assert.Equal(t, []string{"*"}, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"])
+	t.Run("MetricSearch query type", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Run("Should not change non-wildcard dimension value", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName1"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"Value1"}}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeSearch
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, cache.New(0, 0), 50, skip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.NotNil(t, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"], 1)
+			assert.Equal(t, []string{"Value1"}, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"])
+		})
+
+		t.Run("Should not change exact dimension value", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName1"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"*"}}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeSearch
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, cache.New(0, 0), 50, skip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.NotNil(t, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"])
+			assert.Equal(t, []string{"*"}, queries[0].Dimensions["Test_DimensionName1"])
+		})
+
+		t.Run("Should change wildcard dimension value", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName1"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"*"}}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeSearch
+			query.MatchExact = false
+			api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName1"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value1")}, {Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value2")}}},
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName2"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value3")}}},
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName3"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value4")}}},
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName4"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value2")}}},
+			}}
+			api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, cache.New(0, 0), 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"Value1", "Value2", "Value3", "Value4"}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
+			api.AssertExpectations(t)
+		})
 	})
 
-	t.Run("Should change wildcard dimension value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		query := getBaseQuery()
-		query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName1"
-		query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"*"}}
-		query.MatchExact = false
-		api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{
-			{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName1"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value1")}, {Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value2")}}},
-			{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName2"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value3")}}},
-			{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName3"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value4")}}},
-			{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName4"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value2")}}},
-		}}
-		api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
-		queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName1": {"Value1", "Value2", "Value3", "Value4"}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
-		api.AssertExpectations(t)
-	})
+	t.Run("MetricQuery query type", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Run("Should fetch dimensions when there is a `GROUP BY` clause", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{}
+			query.Sql.GroupBy = &models.SQLExpressionGroupBy{
+				Expressions: []dataquery.QueryEditorGroupByExpression{
+					{
+						Property: dataquery.QueryEditorProperty{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Type: "string"},
+						Type:     "groupBy",
+					},
+					{
+						Property: dataquery.QueryEditorProperty{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Type: "string"},
+						Type:     "groupBy",
+					},
+				},
+				Type: "and",
+			}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeQuery
 
-	t.Run("Should use cache for previously fetched value", func(t *testing.T) {
-		query := getBaseQuery()
-		query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName"
-		query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName": {"*"}}
-		query.MatchExact = false
-		api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{
-			{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value")}}},
-		}}
-		api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
-		_, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		// make sure the original query wasn't altered
-		assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName": {"*"}}, query.Dimensions)
+			api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension1Value1")}, {Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension2Value1")}}},
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension1Value2")}, {Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension2Value2")}}},
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension1Value3")}, {Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension2Value3")}}},
+				{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName1"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension1Value4")}, {Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Dimension2Value4")}}},
+			}}
+			api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, cache.New(0, 0), 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{
+				"Test_DimensionName1": {"Dimension1Value1", "Dimension1Value2", "Dimension1Value3", "Dimension1Value4"},
+				"Test_DimensionName2": {"Dimension2Value1", "Dimension2Value2", "Dimension2Value3", "Dimension2Value4"},
+			}, queries[0].Dimensions)
+			api.AssertExpectations(t)
+		})
 
-		//setting the api to nil confirms that it's using the cached value
-		queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName": {"Value"}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
-		api.AssertExpectations(t)
-	})
+		t.Run("Should not fetch dimensions when there is not a `GROUP BY` clause", func(t *testing.T) {
+			query := getBaseQuery()
+			query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName"
+			query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{}
+			query.MetricQueryType = models.MetricQueryTypeQuery
 
-	t.Run("Should not cache when no values are returned", func(t *testing.T) {
-		query := getBaseQuery()
-		query.MetricName = "Test_MetricName"
-		query.Dimensions = map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName2": {"*"}}
-		query.MatchExact = false
-		api := &mocks.MetricsAPI{Metrics: []*cloudwatch.Metric{}}
-		api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
-		queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
-		// assert that the values was set to an empty array
-		assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName2": {}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
-
-		// Confirm that it calls the api again if the last call did not return any values
-		api.Metrics = []*cloudwatch.Metric{
-			{MetricName: utils.Pointer("Test_MetricName"), Dimensions: []*cloudwatch.Dimension{{Name: utils.Pointer("Test_DimensionName2"), Value: utils.Pointer("Value")}}},
-		}
-		api.On("ListMetricsPagesWithContext").Return(nil)
-		queries, err = executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", api, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, tagValueCache, 50)
-		assert.Nil(t, err)
-		assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{"Test_DimensionName2": {"Value"}}, queries[0].Dimensions)
-		api.AssertExpectations(t)
+			queries, err := executor.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, "us-east-1", nil, []*models.CloudWatchQuery{query}, cache.New(0, 0), 50, noSkip)
+			assert.Nil(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, queries, 1)
+			assert.Equal(t, map[string][]string{}, queries[0].Dimensions)
+		})
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/models/cloudwatch_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/models/cloudwatch_query.go
index 4d6afa1e9e7..56709d8442f 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/models/cloudwatch_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/models/cloudwatch_query.go
@@ -50,6 +50,16 @@ const (
 	chinaConsoleURL   = "console.amazonaws.cn"
 )
 
+type SQLExpressionGroupBy struct {
+	Expressions []dataquery.QueryEditorGroupByExpression `json:"expressions"`
+	Type        dataquery.QueryEditorArrayExpressionType `json:"type"`
+}
+
+type sqlExpression struct {
+	dataquery.SQLExpression
+	GroupBy *SQLExpressionGroupBy `json:"groupBy,omitempty"`
+}
+
 type CloudWatchQuery struct {
 	logger            log.Logger
 	RefId             string
@@ -59,6 +69,7 @@ type CloudWatchQuery struct {
 	MetricName        string
 	Statistic         string
 	Expression        string
+	Sql               sqlExpression
 	SqlExpression     string
 	ReturnData        bool
 	Dimensions        map[string][]string
@@ -210,8 +221,9 @@ var validMetricDataID = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*$`)
 
 type metricsDataQuery struct {
 	dataquery.CloudWatchMetricsQuery
-	Type              string `json:"type"`
-	TimezoneUTCOffset string `json:"timezoneUTCOffset"`
+	Sql               *sqlExpression `json:"sql,omitempty"`
+	Type              string         `json:"type"`
+	TimezoneUTCOffset string         `json:"timezoneUTCOffset"`
 }
 
 // ParseMetricDataQueries decodes the metric data queries json, validates, sets default values and returns an array of CloudWatchQueries.
@@ -254,6 +266,10 @@ func ParseMetricDataQueries(dataQueries []backend.DataQuery, startTime time.Time
 			cwQuery.MetricQueryType = *mdq.MetricQueryType
 		}
 
+		if mdq.Sql != nil {
+			cwQuery.Sql = *mdq.Sql
+		}
+
 		if mdq.SqlExpression != nil {
 			cwQuery.SqlExpression = *mdq.SqlExpression
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
index f8953021a1f..2feaf906c2c 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
@@ -114,17 +114,28 @@ func parseLabels(cloudwatchLabel string, query *models.CloudWatchQuery) (string,
 	return splitLabels[0], labels
 }
 
-func getLabels(cloudwatchLabel string, query *models.CloudWatchQuery) data.Labels {
+func getLabels(cloudwatchLabel string, query *models.CloudWatchQuery, addSeriesLabelAsFallback bool) data.Labels {
 	dims := make([]string, 0, len(query.Dimensions))
 	for k := range query.Dimensions {
 		dims = append(dims, k)
 	}
 	sort.Strings(dims)
 	labels := data.Labels{}
+
+	if addSeriesLabelAsFallback {
+		labels["Series"] = cloudwatchLabel
+	}
+
 	for _, dim := range dims {
 		values := query.Dimensions[dim]
 		if len(values) == 1 && values[0] != "*" {
 			labels[dim] = values[0]
+		} else if len(values) == 0 {
+			// Metric Insights metrics might not have a value for a dimension specified in the `GROUP BY` clause for Metric Query type queries. When this happens, CloudWatch returns "Other" in the label for the dimension so `len(values)` would be 0.
+			// We manually add "Other" as the value for the dimension to match what CloudWatch returns in the label.
+			// See the note under `GROUP BY` in https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/cloudwatch-metrics-insights-querylanguage.html
+			labels[dim] = "Other"
+			continue
 		} else {
 			for _, value := range values {
 				if value == cloudwatchLabel || value == "*" {
@@ -195,10 +206,12 @@ func buildDataFrames(ctx context.Context, startTime time.Time, endTime time.Time
 
 		name := label
 		var labels data.Labels
-		if features.IsEnabled(ctx, features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing) {
+		if query.GetGetMetricDataAPIMode() == models.GMDApiModeSQLExpression {
+			labels = getLabels(label, query, true)
+		} else if features.IsEnabled(ctx, features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing) {
 			name, labels = parseLabels(label, query)
 		} else {
-			labels = getLabels(label, query)
+			labels = getLabels(label, query, false)
 		}
 		timestamps := []*time.Time{}
 		points := []*float64{}
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
index bd992d17f10..be1d28107ce 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "res", frames[1].Fields[1].Labels["Resource"])
 	})
 
-	t.Run("when not using multi-value dimension filters", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("when not using multi-value dimension filters on a `MetricSearch` query", func(t *testing.T) {
 		timestamp := time.Unix(0, 0)
 		response := &models.QueryRowResponse{
 			Metrics: []*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult{
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			Statistic:        "Average",
 			Period:           60,
-			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeQuery,
+			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeSearch,
 			MetricEditorMode: models.MetricEditorModeRaw,
 		}
 		frames, err := buildDataFrames(contextWithFeaturesEnabled(features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing), startTime, endTime, *response, query)
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "res", frames[0].Fields[1].Labels["Resource"])
 	})
 
-	t.Run("when non-static label set on query", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("when non-static label set on a `MetricSearch` query", func(t *testing.T) {
 		timestamp := time.Unix(0, 0)
 		response := &models.QueryRowResponse{
 			Metrics: []*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult{
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			Statistic:        "Average",
 			Period:           60,
-			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeQuery,
+			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeSearch,
 			MetricEditorMode: models.MetricEditorModeBuilder,
 			Label:            "set ${AVG} label",
 		}
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "res", frames[0].Fields[1].Labels["Resource"])
 	})
 
-	t.Run("when static label set on query", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("when static label set on a `MetricSearch` query", func(t *testing.T) {
 		timestamp := time.Unix(0, 0)
 		response := &models.QueryRowResponse{
 			Metrics: []*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult{
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			Statistic:        "Average",
 			Period:           60,
-			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeQuery,
+			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeSearch,
 			MetricEditorMode: models.MetricEditorModeBuilder,
 			Label:            "actual",
 		}
@@ -485,6 +485,84 @@ func Test_buildDataFrames_parse_label_to_name_and_labels(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "res", frames[0].Fields[1].Labels["Resource"])
 	})
 
+	t.Run("when `MetricQuery` query has no label set and `GROUP BY` clause has multiple fields", func(t *testing.T) {
+		timestamp := time.Unix(0, 0)
+		response := &models.QueryRowResponse{
+			Metrics: []*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult{
+				{
+					Id:    aws.String("query1"),
+					Label: aws.String("EC2 vCPU"),
+					Timestamps: []*time.Time{
+						aws.Time(timestamp),
+					},
+					Values:     []*float64{aws.Float64(23)},
+					StatusCode: aws.String("Complete"),
+				},
+				{
+					Id:    aws.String("query2"),
+					Label: aws.String("Elastic Loading Balancing ApplicationLoadBalancersPerRegion"),
+					Timestamps: []*time.Time{
+						aws.Time(timestamp),
+					},
+					Values:     []*float64{aws.Float64(23)},
+					StatusCode: aws.String("Complete"),
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		query := &models.CloudWatchQuery{
+			RefId:            "refId1",
+			Region:           "us-east-1",
+			Statistic:        "Average",
+			Period:           60,
+			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeQuery,
+			MetricEditorMode: models.MetricEditorModeBuilder,
+			Dimensions:       map[string][]string{"Service": {"EC2", "Elastic Loading Balancing"}, "Resource": {"vCPU", "ApplicationLoadBalancersPerRegion"}},
+			SqlExpression:    "SELECT AVG(ResourceCount) FROM SCHEMA(\"AWS/Usage\", Class, Resource, Service, Type) GROUP BY Service, Resource",
+		}
+		frames, err := buildDataFrames(contextWithFeaturesEnabled(features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing), startTime, endTime, *response, query)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, "EC2 vCPU", frames[0].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "EC2", frames[0].Fields[1].Labels["Service"])
+		assert.Equal(t, "vCPU", frames[0].Fields[1].Labels["Resource"])
+		assert.Equal(t, "Elastic Loading Balancing ApplicationLoadBalancersPerRegion", frames[1].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "Elastic Loading Balancing", frames[1].Fields[1].Labels["Service"])
+		assert.Equal(t, "ApplicationLoadBalancersPerRegion", frames[1].Fields[1].Labels["Resource"])
+	})
+
+	t.Run("when `MetricQuery` query has no `GROUP BY` clause", func(t *testing.T) {
+		timestamp := time.Unix(0, 0)
+		response := &models.QueryRowResponse{
+			Metrics: []*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult{
+				{
+					Id:    aws.String("query1"),
+					Label: aws.String("cloudwatch-default-label"),
+					Timestamps: []*time.Time{
+						aws.Time(timestamp),
+					},
+					Values:     []*float64{aws.Float64(23)},
+					StatusCode: aws.String("Complete"),
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		query := &models.CloudWatchQuery{
+			RefId:            "refId1",
+			Region:           "us-east-1",
+			Statistic:        "Average",
+			Period:           60,
+			MetricQueryType:  models.MetricQueryTypeQuery,
+			MetricEditorMode: models.MetricEditorModeBuilder,
+			SqlExpression:    "SELECT AVG(ResourceCount) FROM SCHEMA(\"AWS/Usage\", Class, Resource, Service, Type)",
+		}
+		frames, err := buildDataFrames(contextWithFeaturesEnabled(features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing), startTime, endTime, *response, query)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		assert.Equal(t, "cloudwatch-default-label", frames[0].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "cloudwatch-default-label", frames[0].Fields[1].Labels["Series"])
+	})
+
 	t.Run("Parse cloudwatch response", func(t *testing.T) {
 		timestamp := time.Unix(0, 0)
 		response := &models.QueryRowResponse{
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
index 6b5777fc79e..e7d09de8ef0 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
@@ -96,11 +96,20 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) executeTimeSeriesQuery(ctx context.Context, req *ba
 					return err
 				}
 
-				if !features.IsEnabled(ctx, features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing) {
-					requestQueries, err = e.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, region, client, requestQueries, instance.tagValueCache, instance.Settings.GrafanaSettings.ListMetricsPageLimit)
-					if err != nil {
-						return err
+				newLabelParsingEnabled := features.IsEnabled(ctx, features.FlagCloudWatchNewLabelParsing)
+				requestQueries, err = e.getDimensionValuesForWildcards(ctx, region, client, requestQueries, instance.tagValueCache, instance.Settings.GrafanaSettings.ListMetricsPageLimit, func(q *models.CloudWatchQuery) bool {
+					if q.MetricQueryType == models.MetricQueryTypeSearch && (q.MatchExact || newLabelParsingEnabled) {
+						return true
 					}
+
+					if q.MetricQueryType == models.MetricQueryTypeQuery && q.MetricEditorMode == models.MetricEditorModeRaw {
+						return true
+					}
+
+					return false
+				})
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
 				}
 
 				res, err := e.parseResponse(ctx, startTime, endTime, mdo, requestQueries)
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/components/QueryEditor/MetricsQueryEditor/SQLBuilderEditor/utils.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/components/QueryEditor/MetricsQueryEditor/SQLBuilderEditor/utils.ts
index b1d72e0e6cf..b25dd6fa45e 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/components/QueryEditor/MetricsQueryEditor/SQLBuilderEditor/utils.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/components/QueryEditor/MetricsQueryEditor/SQLBuilderEditor/utils.ts
@@ -224,13 +224,16 @@ export function setMetricName(query: CloudWatchMetricsQuery, metricName: string)
     name: metricName,
   };
 
-  return setSql(query, {
-    select: {
-      type: QueryEditorExpressionType.Function,
-      ...(query.sql?.select ?? {}),
-      parameters: [param],
-    },
-  });
+  return setSql(
+    { ...query, metricName },
+    {
+      select: {
+        type: QueryEditorExpressionType.Function,
+        ...(query.sql?.select ?? {}),
+        parameters: [param],
+      },
+    }
+  );
 }
 
 export function removeMetricName(query: CloudWatchMetricsQuery): CloudWatchMetricsQuery {