Kane Brown is nominated for one ACM Award, but it’s the big one. The Georgia native is in the running for the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year, for the second year in a row. Brown shares the category with Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson.
While incredibly grateful for the nomination, Brown insists that some of the artists in the impressive list of fellow nominees are more worthy of the honor than he is, at least at this point in his career.
“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 admits 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.”
Brown’s assessment of himself may not be entirely accurate. The 30-year-old is currently headlining his massive In The Air Tour, hitting stadiums all over the country. He also had a platinum-selling, multi-week No. 1 hit with “Thank God,’ his duet with his wife, Katelyn.
To Brown, that isn’t quite enough.
“Just entertaining wise, I’d put myself up there, but to win it, I wouldn’t think I would feel deserving,” Brown maintains.
Fortunately, Brown doesn’t gauge his success by his collection of trophies. The father of two, with one on the way, uses an entirely different measurement to determine his success, one that has nothing to do with his superstar career.
“I think success comes as not only selling tickets to shows, which is always good to care about, and music as well, but it’s also excelling at being a good role model for everybody else and not getting too big of a head,” Brown reveals. “I just try to be a good person in general. Because at the end of the day, everybody, to me, people are still people. I just want people to know that I am the most normal person that you could be hanging around. I don’t look at my name as anything. That’s success to me, and providing for my family.”
Brown, who recently received the CRS Humanitarian Award, is working hard on his next record, the follow-up to his 2022 Different Man album. The debut single from the project, “I Can Feel It,” became his 11th No. 1 hit.
“We’ve got new music coming, hopefully a new album by at least the end of the year,” Brown tells the Evening Standard. “I feel like I’m almost done with it.”
The 2024 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. Tickets for the general public are available now, via SeatGeek. More information is available at ACMCountry.com.
Find all of Brown’s music and tour dates at KaneBrownMusic.com.