Dolly Parton And Garth Brooks To Co-Host 2023 ACM Awards

Dolly Parton Garth Brooks country music
Courtesy of ACM Awards

What a pair.

According to Billboard, Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks are officially set to co-host the 2023, 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in May.

The show will take place in Texas this year, for the first time since 2015, being livestreamed on Prime Video from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Ratings have of course been an issue not only for the ACM’s, but pretty much every other award show on TV in recent years, so it definitely seems like they’re pulling out all the stops with two of the heaviest hitters in the genre.

I mean, Dolly and Garth? That’s country royalty, to put it lightly…

Dolly hosted the show solo way back in 2000, and last year with Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett, but this will be Garth’s first time hosting it.

Of his first hosting gig with the ACM’s, Garth says he hopes they can represent country well:

“All I hope that we do as a pair is represent country music well. I mean, you’ve got your foundation and what you’re looking for here.

You’ve got talent and class. Let’s represent country music the best that we can.”

To which Dolly responded:

“I told him to say all that, and that I’d say something good about him if he would say something good about me.”

She continued, saying they’ve always wanted to do something together and this will be a blast:

“We are excited about this because we’ve always wanted to do something together. We’ve always admired each other musically and as people and how we handle our business.

So this is a great thrill for me. I think the fans are going to enjoy seeing us together, ‘cause Lord knows he’s got fans and I got a few.”

While they most likely won’t be teaming up for a performance during the show, Dolly will premiere the debut single from her forthcoming rock album, Rock Star, live on stage.

Dolly says that she and Garth are great friends and get along well, and she thinks it will come through on camera and make for a great evening:

“I think that’s going to be one of the things that hopefully shows up on camera that we like each other for real.

I think sometimes you get people onstage and everybody’s a pro and can get up there and talk, but when you really feel the warmth between two people, I think that’s where the magic is, and I think we both have that in us.”

Let’s just hope she doesn’t have to wipe away any of Garth’s tears on live television… on second thought, though, it might make for a really great TV, but I digress…

The 2023 ACM Awards nominees and presenters are still to be announced, and the show will air on May 11th at 8:00 PM EDT exclusively on Amazon Prime.

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