The ACM Awards will be held on May 16, and we now know who will hand out the coveted trophies. The presenters have just been announced, with several country music artists, including Alabama, BRELAND, Jordan Davis, Sara Evans, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Randy Travis and Clay Walker 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 presenters are part of a star-studded show that will also include numerous performances. Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan, and Nate Smith and Avril Lavigne will each perform together, along with Parker McCollum, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson Jelly Roll, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett and Chris Stapleton. Reba McEntire, who is hosting the ceremony, will also sing her brand-new single, “I Can’t.”
Luke Combs leads the list of nominees with eight nominations, including for the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year, a category he shares with Brown, Jelly Roll, Johnson, Stapleton, Morgan Wallen and Wilson.
This year marks Jelly Roll’s first year as an ACM Awards nominee, and he never expected to receive four nominations, including one for Entertainer of the Year.
“I didn’t expect to get this many,” Jelly Roll told People. “Even when I had a shelf built, I had it built for what I won last year thinking that was probably the best year of my life. I don’t know what to do about this thing still running.”
Brown only received one nomination this year, for Entertainer of the Year, a category he is thrilled to be nominated in, even if he doesn’t believe he is the one who should win.
“I’m a person that looks at everything, so when it’s Entertainer of the Year, of course, it’s amazing to be up there, but I’m the type of person that if I won, I feel like I don’t deserve it right now,” Brown admitted to Country Now. “I mean Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen are killing it. Then I saw Chris Stapleton on the list. Chris has such a good voice and I didn’t realize he was playing stadiums too.”
McEntire is returning to hosting for the 17th time, a job she says she may not have taken again if she hadn’t watched Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks host the ceremony in 2023.
“I saw Dolly and Garth doing it last year, and I thought, ‘Man, that’s fun,’” McEntire told Entertainment Tonight. “They’re having a great time. And my competitiveness came in.”
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. See a list of nominees below. Tickets for the general public are available now, via SeatGeek. More information is available at ACMCountry.com.