As soon as Stephen Wilson Jr. found out that he had won an ACM Award, he knew exactly where he was going to put it.
The late blooming artist who has brought the world songs like “Holler from the Holler” and “Grief Is Only Love” has lived a couple of different lives in his lifetime. Hailing from Southern Indiana, Wilson Jr. has certainly made waves in country music over the past couple of years. Wilson Jr. first introduced himself with his EP Bon Aqua in 2023, and then really established himself with his masterful son of dad album he released later that same year.
That entire project actually acted as a letter detailing the love, loss, and grieving process he went through after he unexpectedly and suddenly lost his father. Wilson Jr. been very open about his relationship with his dad, how much he meant to him, and the incredibly hard circumstance of having to say goodbye to him for the last time over the phone.
If you’ve never listened to son of dad in its entirety, I couldn’t recommend it enough. And I’d especially make sure to check it out now that one of the song’s from the project has officially earned Stephen Wilson Jr. his first ever ACM Award. It was announced earlier today that he won the “Visual Media of the Year” award for his song “Cuckoo.”
Wilson Jr. was at WXPN’s NON-COMMvention on Wednesday, May 6 when he was surprised with the award by ACM Head of Artist Relations Haley Montgomery.
You could tell that a) it was a big surprise and b) the country music artist was very grateful for the award. It looked like he was holding back tears just as much as he was smiling, and when he started to speak to the room about the trophy, it became evident why he was getting emotional as he looked at the ACM award in his hands:
“I don’t ever win trophies, so this is kind of my first one. My dad loved trophies more than anything. This will go in his shop. This will be the first one, and I’m very proud.”
Sounds like the perfect spot… his father would be so proud.
Wilson Jr. shared the video of his surprise award win on social media, along with this message thanking everyone who was involved with bringing the music video for “Cuckoo” to life:
“Thank you forever and ever, amen country music and the ACM Awards for this great honor. Thank you Tim Cofield for embracing this feral American vision and bringing it to life. Also, Hardy and Joey Breaux for playing with fire with us. We did our own stunts. Love y’all.”
And just in case you haven’t watched the now award-winning music video, you’ll have to make sure to check out this year’s visual media award winner below:
“Cuckoo”
Oh, and before you go, check to see if Stephen Wilson Jr. will be coming to a town near you as the ACM award winner is set to tour all over the world from now until December.
2026 Tour Dates
June 4 – Nashville, TN – CMA Music Fest (Chevy Riverfront Stage) *
June 6 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Music Festival *
June 7– Nashville, TN – CMA Fest (LP Field) *
June 30 – Dublin, IE – Summer Series
July 10 – St. Paul, MN – Minnesota Yacht Club Festival *
July 11 – Winnipeg, MB – Winnipeg Folk Festival *
July 17 – Spokane, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest #
July 18 – Whitefish, MT – Under the Big Sky Festival *
July 23 – Floyd, VA – FloydFest *
July 24 – Virginia Beach, VA – The Dome by Rutter Mills #
July 25 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion #
August 7 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre #
August 8 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater #
September 4 – George, WA – Gorge Amphitheatre ^
September 6 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium #
September 11–13 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre %
September 17 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre #
September 18 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre # SOLD OUT
September 19 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Grand Lodge (Concerts in the Grove) #
September 22 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater #
September 24 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic #
September 29 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre #
October 15 – Belfast, UK – SSE Arena #
October 17 – Sligo, IE – Sligo Live Festival *
October 19 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow # SOLD OUT
October 20 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow #
October 22 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton #
October 23 – Bristol, UK – The Prospect Building #
October 25 – Manchester, UK – O2 Victoria Warehouse #
October 27 – Paris, FR – Le Trianon #
October 29 – Zurich, CH – Volkshaus #
October 30 – Cologne, DE – Theater am Tanzbrunnen #
November 1 – Utrecht, NL – TivoliVredenburg (Ronda) #
November 3 – Copenhagen, DK – VEGA #
November 4 – Stockholm, SE – Fållan #
November 5 – Oslo, NO – Sentrum Scene #
November 20-22 – St. Petersburg, FL – St. Pete Country Fest *
November 21 – Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewing Company # SOLD OUT
December 2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Citizens Live at The Wylie #
December 9 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy #
December 11 – Nashville, TN – The Truth # SOLD OUT
December 12 – Nashville, TN – The Truth #
* Festival
# Gary The Torch Tour
^ Supporting Dave Matthews Band
% Supporting Brandi Carlile
