The ACM Awards take place tonight, but we already know a few more of the winners. Chris Stapleton received the award for Artist-Songwriter of the Year, while Parker McCollum won the trophy for ACM Visual Media of the Year for his music video for “Burn It Down.” Songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon won the ACM Award for Songwriter of the Year.
Other early ACM Awards winners include Megan Moroney, who won New Female Artist of the Year, Nate Smith for New Male Artist of the Year, and Tigirlily Gold, who won for New Duo or Group of the Year.
Stapleton is nominated for a total of five ACM Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, a category he won in 2023.
You can say that @ChrisStapleton is a DOUBLE THREAT because he just won ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Year! #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/JyCmYdBgLZ
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) May 15, 2024
“By any imaginable metric, I don’t deserve this, but thank you,” Stapleton said when accepting his trophy last year. “There are so many other great people in this category. I stand up, and I play music. That’s what I try to do every night. I write songs, and I make records.”
“I never thought of myself as somebody who’d win this award,” he continued. “I’m so grateful for each and every person who works so hard to make us able to do what we do — my wife Morgane, thank you.”
Later, the Kentucky native reflected on what it meant for him to receive the night’s highest honor.
“I’m humbled by it,” Stapleton said backstage. “And I feel very thankful to the people that voted for me for it, that think that I’m deserving of that. I’m not sure that I am, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it.”
Stapleton and McCollum will both perform during the live broadcast, part of a star-studded list of artists, including Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani, Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan, Nate Smith with Avril Lavigne, plus Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson Jelly Roll, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett. Reba McEntire will host the ceremony and also perform her brand-new single, “I Can’t.” Jason Aldean will perform “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” in tribute to Toby Keith.
Alabama, BRELAND, Jordan Davis, Sara Evans, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Randy Travis and Clay Walker and Scotty McCreery among the list of celebrities giving out the awards.
They will be joined by actor Tyler Cameron, Latin artist Carin León, Charley Pride’s son and wife, Dion and Rozene Pride, actor Noah Reid, actor Richard Sherman, and host and sportscaster Charissa Thompson.
The ACM Awards will air live on Thursday, May 16, from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The ceremony will stream live exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. A membership is not required to watch the ceremony. More information is available at ACMCountry.com.