The nominations for the 59th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards were announced today (April 9th), and Universal Music Group has several nominated artists.
The reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Chris Stapleton has five nods, including one for Entertainer of the Year, as well as his ninth consecutive nomination for Male Artist of the Year, an award he’s won three times in the past. Chris is also up for Album of the Year (Higher – Artist & Producer nominations) and Artist-Songwriter of the Year.
Morgane Stapleton receives her first nomination as a producer on her husband Chris Stapleton’s album Higher.
Jordan Davis earns four nominations, including Single of the Year (“Next Thing You Know”), Song of the Year (“Next Thing You Know” – Artist & Songwriter nominations) and Visual Media of the Year (“Next Thing You Know”).
Brothers Osborne’s nomination for Duo of the Year marks its 17th ACM nomination and its tenth year in a row being nominated for ACM Duo of the Year, an award the pair has brought home four times, including last year.
Kacey Musgraves’ two nominations this year brings her total nominations count to 27, including eight nominations for Female Artist of the Year. She won the award in 2018, the same year she won Album of the Year for Golden Hour. She is nominatied for Female Artist of the Year and Music Event of the Year (“I Remember Everything” w/ Zach Bryan).
2021’s New Male Artist of the Year Parker McCollum received two nominations for Single of the Year (“Burn It Down”) and Visual Media of the Year (“Burn It Down”).
Little Big Town receives its 18th nomination for Group of the Year, which ties the group for the all-time record of 18 nominations for Group of the Year held by Alabama. Little Big Town has been nominated in the category every year since 2005, with the exception of 2011.
Maddie & Tae are nominated for Duo of the Year, along with Brothers Osborne and The War And Treaty.
Kassi Ashton and Kylie Morgan have earned their first ACM nomination, which is for New Female Artist of the Year.
Eric Church is nominated for Music Event of the Year for “Man Made A Bar,” along with Morgan Wallen.
The 59th Annual ACM Awards will stream live from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on May 16th att 8pm ET/7pm CT/5pm PDT on Prime Video. You can also catch offical red carpet coverage on Prime Video, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch and P, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch and Amazon Live, starting at 7 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. CDT/4 p.m. PDT.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Kane Brown
- Luke Combs
- Jelly Roll
- Cody Johnson
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
- Lainey Wilson
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Ashley McBryde
- Megan Moroney
- Kacey Musgraves
- Lainey Wilson
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Luke Combs
- Jelly Roll
- Cody Johnson
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
DUO OF THE YEAR
- Brooks & Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- Maddie & Tae
- The War And Treaty
GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Flatland Cavalry
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Old Dominion
- Zac Brown Band
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Kassi Ashton
- Ashley Cooke
- Hannah Ellis
- Kylie Morgan
- Megan Moroney
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- ERNEST
- Kameron Marlowe
- Dylan Scott
- Conner Smith
- Nate Smith
NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Neon Union
- Restless Road
- Tigirlily Gold
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
Gettin’ Old – Luke Combs
Producer: Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton, Luke Combs
Record Company-Label: River House Artists / Columbia Nashville
Higher – Chris Stapleton
Producer: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton
Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville
Leather – Cody Johnson
Producers: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville LLC
One Thing At A Time – Morgan Wallen
Producers: Joey Moi, Cameron Montgomery, Charlie Handsome, Jacob Durrett
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records / Republic Records / Mercury Records
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) – Kelsea Ballerini
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym
Record Company-Label: Black River Entertainment
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
Burn It Down – Parker McCollum
Producer: Jon Randall
Record Company-Label: MCA Nashville
Fast Car – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Record Company-Label: River House Artists / Columbia Nashville
Last Night – Morgan Wallen
Producer: Joey Moi, Charlie Handsome
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records / Republic Records / Mercury Records
Need A Favor – Jelly Roll
Producer: Austin Nivarel
Record Company-Label: Stoney Creek Records / BMG Nashville
Next Thing You Know – Jordan Davis
Producer: Paul DiGiovanni
Record Company-Label: MCA Nashville
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
Fast Car – Luke Combs
Songwriters: Tracy Chapman
Publishers: Purple Rabbit
Heart Like A Truck – Lainey Wilson
Songwriters: Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson
Publishers: Sony / ATV Countryside; Songs of Riser House; Songs of Wild Cat Well Music
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.
The Painter – Cody Johnson
Songwriters: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins
Publishers: Big Music Machine; BMG Platinum Songs US; Nashblonde Music; Pompano Run Music; Songs for Ellie May; Sony / ATV Tree Publishing; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Group; Well That Was Awkward Music
Tennessee Orange – Megan Moroney
Songwriters: Ben Williams, David Fanning, Megan Moroney, Paul Jenkins
Publishers: 33 Creative; Bone Bone Creative; Sony / ATV Tree Publishing
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
Can’t Break Up Now – Old Dominion, Megan Moroney
Producers: Brad Tursi, Geoff Sprung, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Ross Copperman, Kristian Bush
Record Company-Label: Three Up Three Down, LLC / Columbia Nashville
Different ‘Round Here – Riley Green (Ft. Luke Combs)
Producer: Dann Huff
Record Company-Label: BMLG Records
I Remember Everything – Zach Bryan (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
Producer: Zach Bryan
Record Company-Label: Belting Bronco Records / Warner Records, Inc
Man Made A Bar – Morgan Wallen (feat. Eric Church)
Producer: Joey Moi
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records / Mercury Records / Republic Records
Save Me – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)
Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens
Record Company-Label: Stoney Creek Records / BMG Nashville
VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
Burn It Down – Parker McCollum
Producers: Christen Pinkston &Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: Dustin Haney
Human – Cody Johnson
Producer: Christen Pinkston &Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: Dustin Haney
In Your Love – Tyler Childers
Producer: Kacie Barton, Whitney Wolanin, Nicholas Robespierre, Ian Thorton, Silas House
Director: Bryan Schlam
Next Thing You Know – Jordan Davis
Producer: Jamie Stratakis
Director: Running Bear (Stephen Kinigopoulos, Alexa Stone)
Tennessee Orange – Megan Moroney
Producer: Lauren Starr, Saul Levitz, Laura Burhenn
Director: Jason Lester
ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
- Zach Bryan
- ERNEST
- HARDY
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
Chris Stapleton (Higher album) OC: …on this record. :56
“One thing that’s probably notable about the record to me is it’s the first one that we’ve put out that doesn’t contain a cover, so there’s no covers on this record. So, in that way, I guess you could say it should be more intrinsically whatever we do. So, there’s definitely some exploration of the edges of what that is, and certainly some moments of stretching out vocally and trying to see what that is. There’s some different stuff on this record, I think, and I think it’s really great. I think it’s something that people will enjoy. I think there’s something on it for everybody, which is kind of always my goal. If you’re a kind of a hardcore traditional country person, there’s a song on there for that somewhere. If you leaned into more of the R&B side of what we do, there’s stuff on there for that. If you like the rock side of things that we do, there’s stuff on there for that. And there’s some really great songs on here. I’m excited about the songs on this record.”
Chris Stapleton (ACM 2023 win) OC: …take it. :13
“I’m humbled by it and feel very thankful to the people that voted for me for it and think I’m deserving of that, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it.”
Jordan Davis (Next Thing You Know) OC: …whole lotta people. :47
“You know, there’s no chorus to this song. And I think it’s really cool that all we do is repeat ‘Next Thing You Know’ throughout it, but when you’re trying to write songs for a, a job, not putting a chorus on it is a fast way to get it thrown into the garbage can, and I think that makes me more proud of this song in that this is what we wanted to do with it and we just wanted to be as honest as possible in how fast life goes. I remember leaving, telling somebody like when they were like, ‘Did you write today?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ They said, ‘Did you get anything good?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we wrote a song that doesn’t even have a chorus.’ And I got the look of like, ‘Well, we’ll probably never hear that one,’ and little did I know it would connect with a whole lotta people.”
Parker McCollum (Burn It Down video) OC: …turned out great. :38
“Man, the video was pretty easy, actually. I talked to Dustin, the director, and I was like, ‘Man, I feel like wherever we are, we’re just blowing stuff up and so let’s go blow some stuff up and burn it down.’ And he had a great vision out there in New Mexico. We were in the desert, I mean, the desert, desert. You couldn’t, it was like the ocean, but sand; the middle of the ocean but sand. And it was actually really cold in the morning, then it got really hot at night and then the smoke and the fire and they’re wanting me to walk through it over and over, take after take after take. I’m walking through like this chemical burning black smoke. I’m like this is really risking it for a music video, but it turned out great.”