I wish, more than anything, that this was a joke…
The ACM Awards will return to Texas this year with Reba McEntire as host once again, and it will all stream live exclusively on Prime Video from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco this Thursday, May 8th at 8 PM ET. The ACM Awards with the show will also be celebrating their 60th anniversary, with a pretty good group of performers lined up.
And there is once again a very tight race between the nominees for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award, which includes Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson. But all of the talk about who might win got me thinking about all the people who I think should’ve won, or should’ve won the award more, over the years.
So I headed to Google, out of simple curiosity, to find out who has lost the award the most times over the years… and I was shocked and appalled to find that The King himself, George Strait, has lost the Entertainer of the Year award more than any other artist. Can you even believe that? The man who has broken ticket sales, and has the most #1’s in country music history at 60, is the biggest EOTY loser in history? It’s gross, and disrespectful, and this is exactly why people don’t trust these award shows anymore…
That’s not to say some very deserving people beat him out for some of the losses in this highly-coveted category, but the fact that Strait has been nominated for the ACM EOTY the most times at 14, and has lost the most on 12 separate occasions, is unbelievable. The two times he won EOTY were in 1990 and 2014, and that’s the longest any artist has gone in between Entertainer of the Year wins. And while his winning percentage may be low, it’s just a testament to his longevity as a top tier country music legend to be nominated that many times.
Of course, the Academy of Country Music Award for Entertainer of the Year is the biggest competitive category presented at the ACM Awards, and has been given annually since 1970. The ACM website defines the criteria for EOTY as such:
“The factors to be considered include, but are not limited to, success at radio, consumption, success of music videos, vocal performances, live concert ticket sales, artistic merit, appearances on television, appearances in films, songwriting, success in digital media, and contributions to the country music industry. The nominees shall be determined by a nomination ballot(s) and are subject to the approval of the Board. The winner shall be determined by a vote of the ACM professional membership.”
While I’m sure that has changed over the years, it’s my personal opinion that George probably fit that criteria and then some every time he was nominated… Over the course of 52 years of nominations, Garth Brooks has received the most awards, winning six times out of his 13 nominations.
But the first time Strait won ACM EOTY, in 1990 was a glorious time, and the race was TIGHT, as he was up against fellow legends in Alabama, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis and Hank Williams Jr. I mean, it’s hard to imagine any of them not winning, so if that’ the kind of caliber he was up against every time, I can see how it was hard to vote against him… but not hard enough for him to lose 12 times.
In his speech, George seemed pretty elated to have finally won such a huge award, thanking his team, family and fans for all of their support:
“Thank you, thank you very much, I really appreciate this. This is such a great business, I’ve got so many people to thank. Thank you Erv Woolsey, my manager, we go a long way back. I appreciate it. Thanks to Norma, my wife, MCA Records, my great band, the Ace In the Hole band, who I kinda think is probably the best country band out there on the road today.
And Tom Foote, I want to thank my bus drivers, who if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here today.and thanks to all you fans out there and the Academy of Country Music, I appreciate it very much.”
He’s The King for a reason, and the disrespect that goes into him holding the record for the most ACM Entertainer of the Year losses in history is an act of treason within the country music genre. But the good news is, it’s not to late to have that number change… your move, ACM Awards.
You can watch his winning 1990 speech here:
