Shaping up to be a pretty solid group of performers.
This afternoon, the ACM awards announced the next group of performers for the special 60th anniversary of the show, which includes big names in Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, Wynonna Judd, Miranda Lambert, Leann Rimes and Cody Johnson, in addition to Kelsea Ballerini and Rascal Flatts. They will join the already-announced performers in Blake Shelton, Eric Church, and Lainey Wilson.
The ACM’s will return to Texas this year with Reba McEntire returning as host, and it will all stream live exclusively on Prime Video from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on Thursday, May 8th at 8 PM ET. While we all know these shows are usually nothing to write home about, I’m assuming they’ll pull out some extra stops since this is a special edition of the ACM Awards with the show celebrating its 60th anniversary.
For the most part, in the day and age of streaming, I don’t think most country fans, or music fans in general, really care all that much about award shows, as is evidenced by the fact that this show now streams on Amazon rather than airing on a major TV network, but there were a few neat moments last year.
I think Reba’s a good host, and she performed a tribute to the late Dickey Betts, the former Allman Brothers Band guitarist, with Post Malone singing a duet of “Ramblin’ Man.” He played a big role in the popularization of country music, so it was only right that he too got a tribute during the show:
@reeves.jpg Post Malone and Reba McEntire sing Ramblin’ Man tribute to Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers at the ACM Awards #postmalone #rebamcentire @Post Malone @Reba McEntire ♬ original sound – reeves.jpg
But the best part of that happened offstage, in a moment that was shared on a Post Malone fan account where you see Post strumming his acoustic guitar as they harmonize together and discuss the plan, and he seems really excited about it at the end letting out a “f*ck yeah,” though he quickly realized he cussed in front of the country legend herself and quickly apologized and corrected himself:
“And then I’ll rip the solo on it… okay, yeah. F*ck yeah. I mean hell yeah, sorry .”
Actually, I’m pretty sure he said “sorry miss,” and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen… just precious.
He also pats Reba on the shoulder when he says it, and I need more guys to take notes because this is the most gentlemanly thing I’ve seen in quite a while (is that sad? Probably…):
Is that worth sitting through the rest of the show where many artists I honestly don’t care about get awards that really don’t mean much in the grand scheme of a truly successful music career? Not really if you’re someone who doesn’t really care about award shows rth but I’m sure Lainey and Eric will at least put on some noteworthy performances.
It will certainly be a tight race for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award between the likes of Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wallen and more, and with legends like Jackson and Brooks & Dunn performing, there should be at least a few solid performances that will be worth watching.
You can check out the full list of nominees below.
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
