Lainey Wilson Named ACM Entertainer of the Year;
Chris Stapleton Takes Home the Most Wins With Four Awards,
Followed by Lainey Wilson With Three Wins
Host Reba McEntire Announces Return for 60th ACM Awards
Fans can relive ‘Country Music’s Party of the Year’ now on Prime Video, and starting tomorrow,
Friday, May 17 at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT, on the Amazon Music App and for free on Amazon Freevee
FRISCO, TX — Winners have been announced for the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards. 16-time ACM Award-winning entertainment icon, Reba McEntire, hosted the two-hour commercial-free concert event, which streamed live for an international audience across 240+ countries and territories exclusively on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch from the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. During the live broadcast, McEntire also enthusiastically announced her return as host for the monumental 60th ACM Awards, taking place in 2025.
The Academy’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year, was awarded to Lainey Wilson. Chris Stapleton led the night in total wins with four awards, followed by Lainey Wilson with three wins, and Luke Combs and Jordan Davis with two wins. The show celebrated Country Music’s biggest stars and emerging talent and featured 18 show-stopping performances from 19 artists, along with exclusive collaborations and unexpected moments that captivated fans worldwide.
Fans can relive all of the excitement of the 59th ACM Awards with the full rebroadcast now available to watch on Prime Video, and starting tomorrow, Friday, May 17 at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT, on the Amazon Music App and for free on Amazon Freevee. Amazon Music is also streaming the Official ACM Awards playlist, which features a curated selection of music from tonight’s winners. Listen on the Amazon Music app HERE.
Winner Highlights of the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards:
- This is Lainey Wilson’s first win for ACM Entertainer of the Year, and her win qualifies her for the coveted ACM Triple Crown Award, celebrating artists who have won New Female/Male Artist/Duo or Group of the Year, Female/Male Artist/Duo/Group of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. Lainey Wilson is the first woman to achieve the ACM Triple Crown Award in three years (2021 ACM New Female Artist of the Year, 2022 & 2023 Female Artist of the Year, and 2023 Entertainer of the Year) and the first artist since The Chicks (1998-2000). Her three wins tonight brings her ACM Awards count to 10.
- Chris Stapleton was the most awarded artist of the evening with four wins, including his eighth win for ACM Album of the Year, four as an artist and four as a producer, making him the artist with the most wins in the category (passing George Strait with seven wins). His win for ACM Male Artist of the Year brings his total in the category to four. Stapleton’s win for ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Year marks his first win in the category. His four wins bring his ACM Awards count to 20.
- Old Dominion’s win for ACM Group of the Year marks their seventh consecutive win in the category, tying Rascal Flatts for the most consecutive wins in the category. Their win tonight brings Old Dominion’s ACM Awards count to nine.
- Megan Moroney, Nate Smith, and Tigirlily Gold secured their first ACM Awards wins for their respective wins in the three New Artist categories, along with Jordan Davis who took home his first two ACM Awards with an Artist and Songwriter credit on the ACM Song of the Year, “Next Thing You Know.”
Following is the full list of winners in the 14 categories voted on by Academy members:
MAIN AWARDS:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Lainey Wilson
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Lainey Wilson
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Chris Stapleton
DUO OF THE YEAR
- Dan + Shay
GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Old Dominion
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Megan Moroney
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Nate Smith
NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Tigirlily Gold
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Higher – Chris Stapleton
Producers: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton
Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Fast Car – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Record Company-Label: River House Artists / Columbia Nashville
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/
- Next Thing You Know – Jordan Davis
Songwriters: Chase McGill, Greylan James, Jordan Davis, Josh Osborne
Publishers: Family Farm Songs; Hold On Can I Get A Number 1 Music; Songs of Universal Inc.
VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/
- Burn It Down – Parker McCollum
Produces: Christen Pinkston &Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: Dustin Haney
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
- Jessie Jo Dillon
ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
- Chris Stapleton
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Save Me – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)
Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens
Record Company-Label: Stoney Creek Records / BMG Nashville
Show performance highlights included:
- ACM Female Artist of the Year winner Lainey Wilson kicked off “Country Music’s Party of the Year” with a heart-pumping, adrenaline-fueled performance of “God Blessed Texas” and “Hang Tight Honey.”
- Jelly Roll continued the party with a BANG singing his heart-wrenching performance of “Liar.”
- Kelsea Ballerini lit up the stage with her moving ballad, “Mountain With A View,” then joined Noah Kahan, in his award show debut, for a performance of his hit song, “Stick Season.”
- Sister duo and New Duo or Group winners Tigirlily Gold gave a warm performance of “I Tried a Ring On.”
- Five-time ACM Award nominee and Texas-born artist Cody Johnson slowed things down with the emotional ballad “Dirt Cheap.”
- 38-time ACM Award winner Miranda Lambert hit the stage with a powerful television premiere of her new single, “Wranglers.”
- Georgia native Kane Brown sang a soulful rendition of Ray Charles’ classic “Georgia on My Mind,” which Charles performed on the ACM Awards stage 40 years ago..
- Eight-time ACM Award winner Thomas Rhett electrified the crowd with his new song “Beautiful as You.”
- Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani only had eyes for each other as they rocked the stage with “Purple Irises.” Stefani was elegantly dressed in purple sparkles as she sweetly sang alongside Shelton.
- Fellow Okie, Blake Shelton spoke fondly about his friend, the late great Toby Keith, with a special rendition of Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” performed by Jason Aldean as the teary-eyed crowd joined Aldean in singing the country classic.
- Lainey Wilson got emotional as she accepted ACM Female Artist of the Year and thanked Reba McEntire and all of the other women in Country Music who paved the road before her.
- Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Chris Stapleton and global superstar, and surprise guest, Dua Lipa shocked the audience with an unexpected performance of “Think I’m In Love With You.”
- Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll accepted the award for ACM Music Event of the Year, as Jelly Roll passionately shared how important “Save Me” was to him.
- Texas-raised Post Malone showed his roots with a tear jerking ballad of “Never Love You Again” and quickly turned things around with a high-energy performance of “I Had Some Help” off his new Country Music album, and only the second single in history to be added at every Country Radio station.
- Reba and Post Malone treated the audience to an acapella duet of “Ramblin’ Man” in honor of the late Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band.
- Parker McCollum sang a fiery rendition of his No. 1 hit “Burn it Down.”
- Amazon Breakthrough Artist Nate Smith and international pop icon Avril Lavigne left the audience pumped with a head-banging performance of “Bulletproof.”
- Lainey Wilson took home the award for ACM Entertainer of the Year as she thanked the other nominees with tears in her eyes.
- The evening’s host Reba McEntire set the stage on fire and brought the house down, closing out “Country Music’s Party of the Year” with her new single “I Can’t” backed by a 20-person choir.
- Reba McEntire solidified the evening by announcing that she would be back to host the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards next year.
Tonight’s presenters included BRELAND (former Amazon Music Breakthrough Artist and ACM Award winning-artist), Tyler Cameron (Going Home with Tyler Cameron & The Bachelorette), Dan + Shay (six-time ACM Award winning-duo), Jordan Davis (three-time 59th ACM Award nominee), Carin León (two-time Latin Grammy Award winner), Little Big Town (nine-time ACM Award winning-artist), Ashley McBryde (three-time ACM Award winning-artist), Scotty McCreery (ACM Award winning-artist), Dion Pride (son of ACM Award winning-artist, Charley Pride), Rozene Pride (wife of ACM Award winning-artist, Charley Pride), Noah Reid (Outer Range & Schitt’s Creek), Richard Sherman (Host, Thursday Night Football), The War And Treaty (59th ACM Award nominee), Charissa Thompson (Host Prime Video, Thursday Night Football host), Randy Travis (seven-time ACM Award winning-artist), and Clay Walker (ACM Award nominee and Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee). Plus, five-time ACM National On-Air Personality of the Year winner Bobby Bones was featured throughout the night. The segment, “Backstage with Bobby Bones,” showcased brief interviews with Chris Stapleton and Dua Lipa, Jelly Roll, and Post Malone, and others.
For a complete list of past and present wins and nominations, please visit ACMcountry.com and search the ACM Awards Database located on the Homepage.
The 59th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Raj Kapoor is Executive Producer and Showrunner, with Patrick Menton as Co-Executive Producer. Damon Whiteside serves as Executive Producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Barry Adelman serves as Executive Producer for DCP. John Saade continues to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running Country Music awards show and made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in collaboration with Prime Video. This year’s show marks its return to Frisco, Texas for the second consecutive year after the 2023 show was one of the most watched awards shows of the year.
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