And the nominees are…
The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards nominations are officially out this morning, and there are quite a few notable categories this year.
We have Ella Langley leading the pack with a whopping eight nominations, with several coming for her smash hit with Riley Green “You Look Like You Love Me,” Morgan Wallen right behind her with seven nods, including Entertainer of the Year, Cody Johnson and Lainey Wilson also tying him with seven, and Chris Stapleton coming in with six nominations. Riley Green and Post Malone tied with five.
Zach Top snuck in with two nominations, one for Album of the Year for Cold Beer & Country Music and a New Male Artist of the Year. Bands like the Red Clay Strays and Flatland Cavalry also received nominations, so it’s cool to see some genuinely great country bands and artists finally get the recognition they deserve.
The show will be hosted by 16-time ACM Award-winner Reba McEntire, and the big anniversary show will celebrate six decades of country music and stream live exclusively on Prime Video from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 8 PM ET.
It’s not a perfect list, obviously, and we all know by now to take these award shows with a grain of salt, so to speak, but it’s a pretty solid group overall considering how many decent mainstream country artists were deservedly nominated (and some not-so-great, but that’s always to be expected).
Lainey Wilson, Eric Church and Blake Shelton have already been confirmed as performers, with many more still to be announced.
And with all that being said, here are the nominees:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Jelly Roll
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Ella Langley
Megan Moroney
Kacey Musgraves
Lainey Wilson
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Jelly Roll
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Muscadine Bloodline
The War And Treaty
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Flatland Cavalry
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
The Red Clay Strays
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kassi Ashton
Ashley Cooke
Dasha
Ella Langley
Jessie Murph
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Gavin Adcock
Shaboozey
Zach Top
Tucker Wetmore
Bailey Zimmerman
NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
Restless Road
The Red Clay Strays
Treaty Oak Revival
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
● Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) – Megan Moroney
Producer: Kristian Bush
Record Company-Label: Columbia Records / Sony Music Nashville
● Beautifully Broken – Jelly Roll
Producers: BazeXX, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Devin Dawson, Charlie Handsome, Ben Johnson, mgk, The Monsters & Strangerz, Austin Nivarel, SlimXX, Ryan Tedder, Isaiah Tejada, Alysa Vanderheym
Record Company-Label: BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville / Republic Records
● Cold Beer & Country Music – Zach Top
Producer: Carson Chamberlain
Record Company-Label: Leo33
● F-1 Trillion – Post Malone
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Record Company-Label: Mercury Records / Republic Records
● Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
● A Bar Song (Tipsy) – Shaboozey
Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry
Record Company-Label: American Dogwood / EMPIRE
● Dirt Cheap – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville
● I Had Some Help – Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Record Company-Label: Mercury Records / Republic Records
● White Horse – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton
Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville
● you look like you love me – Ella Langley, Riley Green
Producer: Will Bundy
Record Company-Label: SAWGOD / Columbia Records
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
● 4x4xU – Lainey Wilson
Songwriters: Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere, Lainey Wilson
Publishers: Louisiana Lady; One Tooth Productions; Reservoir 416; Songs of One Riot Music; Sony/ATV Accent
● The Architect – Kacey Musgraves
Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne
Publishers: Songs for Indy and Owl; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing
● Dirt Cheap – Cody Johnson
Songwriter: Josh Phillips
Publishers: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing; Write or Die Music; Write the Lightning Publishing
● I Had Some Help – Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters, Ryan Vojtesak
Publishers: Bell Ear Publishing; Master of my Domain Music; Poppy’s Picks; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Universal Music Corporation
● you look like you love me – Ella Langley, Riley Green
Songwriters: Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Raitiere
Publishers: Back 40 Publishing International; Langley Publishing; One Tooth Productions; Sony/ATV Tree; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
● Cowboys Cry Too – Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan, Alysa Vanderheym
Record Company-Label: Black River Entertainment
● I Had Some Help – Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Record Company-Label: Mercury Records / Republic Records
● I’m Gonna Love You – Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood
Producer: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville
● we don’t fight anymore – Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Records
● you look like you love me – Ella Langley, Riley Green
Producer: Will Bundy
Record Company-Label: SAWGOD / Columbia Records
VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
● 4x4xU – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jennifer Ansell
Director: Dano Cerny
● Dirt Cheap – Cody Johnson
Producer: Dustin Haney
Director: Dustin Haney
● I’m Gonna Love You – Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood
Producers: Christen Pinkston, Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: Dustin Haney
● Think I’m In Love With You – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Wes Edwards, Angie Lorenz, Jamie Stratakis
Director: Running Bear (Stephen Kinigopoulos, Alexa Stone)
● you look like you love me – Ella Langley, Riley Green
Producer: Whale Tale Music
Directors: Ella Langley, John Park, Wales Toney
ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
ERNEST
HARDY
Morgan Wallen
Lainey Wilson
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Jessi Alexander
Jessie Jo Dillon
Ashley Gorley
Chase McGill
Josh Osborne
