The nominees are in for the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards, and Chris Young is leading the charge.
The veteran hitmaker is up for seven awards, including album and single of the year for the awards which will stream live on Prime Video on March 7 at 8 pm EST from Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. Tickets for the event are currently on sale at Ticketmaster.
Rising stars Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett – along with country legend Dolly Parton – will co-host the streaming event. Allen and Barrett each made an impressive leap from winning as best new artists in 2021 to being nominated for best male and female artists in 2022.
Seventeen years in Nashville could finally be enough for “Fancy Like” (endearingly known as the “Applebee’s song”) singer Walker Hayes to achieve best new artist status. His inclusion of him in the category is one of five nods for the first-time ACM Awards nominee.
Hayes ties ACM Awards mainstay Miranda Lambert, who received a record-tying 16th nomination for female artist of the year (only Reba McEntire had previously accomplished the feat) among her five nominations.
ACM Awards 2021 winners list:Luke Bryan takes Entertainer of the Year, Maren Morris takes two honors
Luke Combs, Lambert and Chris Stapleton are three of the five ACM nominees for entertainer of the year. Potentially more significant than a win in the category for the trio is clinching the “Triple Crown Award,” of being an entertainer of the year plus previous wins as a best new artist and artist of the year (male, female, duo or group) .
Stapleton also earned five nominations in 2022 – his nod for entertainer of the year is his fourth time overall.
Notable as well is that Morgan Wallen, country’s overall album sales leader for 2021 (at an impressive 3.2 million equivalent album units earned last year), could be a winner on March 7. Though controversial, the numbers for his “Dangerous: The Double Album ” don’t lie, and he’s being rewarded with four nominations: first-time nods for male artist of the year, album of the year and song of the year, plus an additional nod as a songwriter.
More:Morgan Wallen used a racist slur but his popularity is skyrocketing. How did we get here?
Also, key on the diversity front, four out of five nominees for music event of the year include female collaborators (including Kelsea Ballerini, Carrie Underwood, and the “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” tandem of Carly Pearce and Ashley McBride). Nominations include three members of the LGBTQ+ community, as Brothers Osborne receives a nomination for duo of the year, Lily Rose is nominated for new female artist of the year and songwriter Shane McAnally has received four nominations.
The two-hour streaming time limit for the 57th ACM Awards has abbreviated the number of trophies to be handed out live at Allegiant Stadium. The Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards will be presented to recipients at a separate event, the Academy of Country Music Honors, a special event held annually in August at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The Academy of Country Music notes that more details will be announced in the coming months regarding that event.
Here’s a list of all awards that will be given on March 7:
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 Pierce
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
Midlands
Old Dominion
The Cadillac Three
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Tenille Arts
Priscilla Block
LilyRose
Caitlyn Smith
laine 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
Producers: 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
Nicole 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
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism