The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards take place next Monday (March 7th) and several of your favorite country artists are preparing to take center stage.
Chris Stapleton earned nods in the categories for Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Single of the Year (“You Should Probably Leave”) – nominated as artist + producer and Video of the Year for “I Bet You Think About Me” with Taylor Swift.
Carrie Underwood is nominated for four awards this year, including Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year (“If I Didn’t Love You”), Video of the Year (“If I Didn’t Love You”) and Music Event of the Year (“If I Didn’t Love You”). She is a 45-time nominee and 15-time winner, including three Entertainer of the Year Awards (the only female artist in history to win this award three times).
Jordan Davis is nominated for Single of the Year (“Buy Dirt”), Song of the Year (“Buy Dirt”) – nominated as artist + songwriter, Music Event of the Year (“Buy Dirt”), along with Luke Bryan.
Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan is up for three nominations with Jordan Davis for Single of the Year (“Buy Dirt”), Song of the Year (“Buy Dirt”) and Music Event of the Year (“Buy Dirt”).
Eric Church is nominated for Entertainer of the Year, while the members of Little Big Town are up for Group of the Year.
The reigning CMA Duo of the Year Brothers Osborne, as well as Maddie & Tae are up for Duo of the Year.
Parker McCollum is up for New Male Artist of the Year, while Priscilla Block is nominated for New Female Artist of the Year.
The two-hour show, featuring more than 20 performances, will stream live without commercial interruption and is hosted by icon Dolly Parton and co-hosted by reigning ACM New Female Artist of the Year Gabby Barrett and reigning ACM New Male Artist of the Year Jimmie Allen.
The 57th Annual ACM Awards will be streamed live from Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium March 7th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on Amazon Prime.
Artist nominee list below.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Eric Church
- Luke Combs
- Miranda Lambert
- Chris Stapleton
- Carrie Underwood
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Gabby Barrett
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Maren Morris
- Carly Pearce
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Jimmie Allen
- Luke Combs
- Thomas Rhett
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
DUO OF THE YEAR
- Brooks & Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- LOCASH
- Maddie & Tae
GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Midland
- Old Dominion
- The Cadillac Three
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Tenille Arts
- Priscilla Block
- Lily Rose
- Caitlyn Smith
- Lainey Wilson
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- HARDY
- Walker Hayes
- Ryan Hurd
- Parker McCollum
- Elvie Shane
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- 29: Written in Stone – Carly Pearce
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Jimmy Robbins, Tony Brown
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Records
- Country Again: Side A – Thomas Rhett
Producers: Dann Huff, Jesse Frasure, Matt Dragstrem
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Label Group
- Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen
Producer: Joey Moi, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Matt Dragstrem, Dave Cohen
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records / Republic Records
- Famous Friends – Chris Young
Producer: Mark Holman, Corey Crowder, Chris Young, Chris DeStefano
Record Company-Label: RCA Records Nashville
- The Marfa Tapes – Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
Producers: Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
Record Company-Label: Vanner Records / RCA Records Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Buy Dirt – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Record Company-Label: MCA Nashville
- Famous Friends – Chris Young and Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young
Record Company-Label: RCA Records Nashville
- Fancy Like – Walker Hayes
Producers: Walker Hayes, Shane McAnally, Joe Thibodeau
Record Company-Label: Monument Records
- If I Didn’t Love You – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
Producers: Michael Knox
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records; Macon Music, LLC; BBR Music Group, BMG
- You Should Probably Leave – Chris Stapleton
Producer: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
- 7 Summers – Morgan Wallen
Songwriters: Morgan Wallen, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally
Publishers: Big Loud Mountain, Bo Wallace Publishing, Smackborne Music, Sony/ATV Accent, Smackstreet Music, Tempo Investments, Warner Geo Met Ric Music
- Buy Dirt – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
Songwriters: Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins
Publishers: Anthem Music Publishing II, Bentprop Pub, Big Blue Nation Music, Combustion Five, Jentown, Jordan Davis Music, Smackwork Music, Smack Blue, Kobalt Music Group Music, Universal Music Corporation, WC Music Corp
- Fancy Like – Walker Hayes
Songwriters: Cameron Bartolini, Josh Jenkins, Shane Stevens, Walker Hayes
Publishers: Songs of SMACK, Rarespark Media Group, Smackworks Music, Smack Blue, Kobalt Music Group, Holy Graffiti Music, Purplebeatz, WC Music Corp
- Knowing You – Kenny Chesney
Songwriters: Adam James, Brett James, Kat Higgins
Publishers: 3 Ring Circus, BMG Platinum Songs, Pompano Run Music, Songs of Brett, WC Music Corp
- Things A Man Oughta Know – Lainey Wilson
Songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson
Publishers: Sony/ATV Accent, Sony/ATV Countryside, Spirit Two Nashville, Super Big Music
VIDEO OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
- Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) – Elle King and Miranda Lambert
Producers: Angie Lorenz, Wes Edwards, James Stratakis
Directors: Alexa Kinigopoulos, Stephen Kinigopoulos
- Famous Friends – Chris Young and Kane Brown
Producer: Jennifer Ansell
Director: Peter Zavadil
- I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift featuring Chris Stapleton
Producers: Jil Hardin, Blake Lively, Kathy Palmer, Austin Swift
Director: Blake Lively
- If I Didn’t Love You – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
Producers: Christen Pinkston, Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: Shaun Silva
- Never Wanted To Be That Girl – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producer: Ryan Byrd
Director: Alexa Campbell
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR*(Off Camera Award)
- Jesse Frasure
- Nicolle Galyon
- Ashley Gorley
- Michael Hardy
- Josh Osborne
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Buy Dirt – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Record Company-Label: MCA Nashville
- Famous Friends – Chris Young and Kane Brown
Producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young
Record Company-Label: RCA Records Nashville
- half of my hometown – Kelsea Ballerini featuring Kenny Chesney
Producers: Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins, Kelsea Ballerini
Record Company-Label: Black River Entertainment
- If I Didn’t Love You – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood
Producer: Michael Knox
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records; Macon Music, LLC; BBR Music Group, BMG
- Never Wanted To Be That Girl – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Label Group, Warner Music Nashville
Audio / Carrie Underwood talks about her ACM nomination for Entertainer of the Year.
DownloadCarrie Underwood (Entertainer of the Year nomination) OC: …what happens. :49
“Of course, it’s an honor to be nominated for Entertainer of the Year, you know. I feel like I’m so blessed to have so many facets of my job and things that I do, obviously performing live on stage, but there’s about a million other irons that we’ve always got in the fire that we’re always working on and we’re always busy. It kind of encapsulates all of that and being recognized for all the things going on is always a good thing. You never know what’s going to happen, because obviously there’s been many, many other artists that have just been crushing it and putting on great shows and doing all the things. There’s only a select handful that get nominated and it’s obviously very exciting and we’ll see what happens.”
Audio / Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean have wanted to find a song to do together, but when “If I Didn’t Love You” came along, they knew it was the perfect fit.
DownloadCarrie Underwood (IIDLY perfect fit) OC: …the perfect fit. :30
“Jason asked if I would sing ‘If I Didn’t Love You’ with him. I knew I liked the song, and Jason and I have actually been kind of trying to do things together over the years. We’ve sang together before, but we’ve never officially recorded anything together. It just kind of felt like this could be our moment. I felt like it was a little bit of an unexpected duet to other people, but I feel like I kinda always knew at some point I’d probably sing with him officially, and this just seemed like, the stars were aligning and it just seemed like it was going to be the perfect fit.”
Audio / Carrie Underwood on the announcement of ACM nominations.
DownloadCarrie Underwood (ACM nominations announcement) OC: …like that. :30
“I love that they announce nominations for the ACMs in the morning because the night before you kind of know that they’re gonna come out. Usually, I forget by the time morning actually gets there, and then I wake up and start going about my day, and then I’ll get a text at some point that says, ‘Congratulations,’ and say what I’m nominated for, so it’s just super ‘Oh yeah! Omigosh! Yay!’ I knew they were coming, but they always surprise me, and I always feel just super honored and excited when I get good news like that.”
Audio / Eric Church talks about what kind of energy he receives when he performs for the audience.
DownloadEric Church (performing energy) OC: …type of crowd. :43
“I think, for me, every night I try to empty the tank. There’s always that energy floating around. It’s a palpable thing. It’s up to me to start that exchange and get the crowd to give it back to me and then watch it build on itself, and just to have that experience. I mean, we have one night here in whatever city we are in, whether it’s Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday. We got this night, I’m not going to see you for a while and you’re not going to see me for a while, you know? And I love being able to capitalize on that moment and trying to live in that moment and get as much energy exchanged between myself and the crowd as we can. I love that! That’s my favorite part of what we do. I love being around people…I’m very passionate about my music and I love people who are passionate about the music too, and I love playing a show for that type of crowd.”
Audio / Backstage at a previous awards show, Chris Stapleton says he's always grateful to win awards.
DownloadChris Stapleton (grateful for awards) OC: …grateful for the moment. :30
“Well I’ll take ’em home with me I guess once they send ’em Yeah I guess you have to at some point, but it still is a very… I’m thankful for it and it’s very nice and there’s a lot of great people doing a lot of great things making a lot of great music and working really hard and so when you get this kind of a thing going, I don’t think anybody deserves it. It’s a lot of luck and a lot of stars lining up so, I’m grateful for the moment.”
Audio / Chris Stapleton is the reigning CMA Male Vocalist, and he says it's special every time you win that award.
DownloadChris Stapleton (CMA Male Vocalist 2021) OC: …for that. :17
“It’s special every time you win something, and I do like, I feel like when you win that award people are appreciating your talent as a singer. And so, I do partially pride myself on being a pretty good one, so it’s nice to be recognized for that.”
Audio / Little Big Town talk about cheering on their fellow nominees.
DownloadLBT (Group nomination) OC: …yeah. :12
“That’s the coolest thing. Yeah. We’re all friends and we all root for each other and cheer each other on, and we love the music they’re making. And we just celebrate, man. We’re, we’re fans. Yeah.”
Audio / Maddie & Tae say a nomination means the world to them.
DownloadMaddie & Tae (Duo nomination) OC: …super fun. :24
“Having that nomination was like, oh wow, our peers do still feel like we’re doing something special and do still believe in us and that was a really nice spirit-lifter where we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. We are doing something right and we’re making music that people are enjoying,’ and that was just a huge, huge compliment. And we’re nominated with some of favorite people in the industry, so super fun.”
Audio / Parker McCollum talks about his ACM nomination for New Male Artist of the Year.
DownloadParker McCollum (ACM Nomination reaction) OC: …paying off. :35
“You know, it’s really just crazy to be at a point in my life, in my career, where I can say things like I’m nominated for an ACM Award. I mean, I’ve watched those awards since I was a little kid and watched so many of my heroes win awards on that show and they play your song and you walk up and you accept an award, and it’s something I’ve thought about for a long, long, long time. So, to even be a consideration for an award, to even be a nominee, is just such an honor. It’s kind of a pinch-me moment of man, maybe what I’m doing is working out and paying off.”
Audio / Priscilla Block is thrilled about her first ACM Nomination (for New Female Artist of the Year).
DownloadPriscilla Block (ACM 2022 reaction) OC: …so excited. :15
“I am just blown away. I feel like I just keep crying. I don’t even know how this happened, but I’m so honored. This is probably one of the biggest moments of my life! I’m so excited!”