It was Lainey Wilson’s night, in many ways. She won Female Artist of the Year and the inaugural Entertainer of the Year award at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, held at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north from Dallas.
The awards ceremony was hosted by Reba McEntire.
“I’ve been in Nashville for 13 years doing this,” Wilson began, visibly moved. “Everyone in this category loved me and believed in me,” she added. “And I love you all for it.”
She joins an exclusive category of a few women to take home the top prize: Miranda Lambert was named entertainer of the year in 2022. In 2020, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for the title, tied for the first time and for the first time tied. woman had won the category since Taylor Swift in 2012.
Wilson also opened the 59th annual ACMs with a cover of Little Texas’ “God Blessed Texas,” jumping perfectly into her new single “Hang Tight Honey.” Next, Clay Walker and Randy Travis presented Jordan Davis with song of the year for his ubiquitous country radio hit “Next Thing You Know.”
“First of all, I want to thank the fans for loving this song,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I love writing songs because of the songs that won song of the year, so to put this together right now is crazy.”
Musical Event of the Year also went to Wilson – and Jelly Roll, for his hit “Save Me.”
“No pun intended, but seriously, this song saved me,” Jelly Roll said in his speech. “I thought I was going to die and go to jail,” he said while getting emotional — and instead celebrated winning the ACM award.
In one of the most anticipated performances of the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, Jason Aldean lit up the stage in a moving tribute to the late Toby Keith.
He gave the crowd a soulful, acoustic performance of Keith’s classic “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” while the audience sang along and Keith’s family watched from the crowd.
Over the course of his career, Keith has won 14 ACM Awards, twice winning the top prize for Entertainer of the Year. He died in February at the age of 62 following a diagnosis of stomach cancer.
Album and Male Artist of the Year went to Chris Stapleton. “There are so many great guys in this category and I’m happy to be included in this company,” he said in his acceptance speech.
And when it came time to perform his new song “Think I’m in Love with You,” he was joined by a very special guest: Dua Lipa.
That wasn’t the only surprise: Post Malone debuted a brand new song, “Never Love You Again,” which slotted into his huge new single with Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help.” Wallen did not play.
Instead, McEntire then joined Post Malone to duet on the Allman Brothers Band’s “Ramblin’ Man” in tribute to Dickey Betts, who died last month. He was 80 years old.
The 2023 Billboard Music Awards was a night full of major wins and standout performances.
Earlier in the evening, Luke Combs — the most nominated artist of the night, with eight — won single of the year for his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Last year, Chapman’s 1988 song won Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards for Combs’ cover, making her the first black female songwriter to win in that category.
Dan, Shay and Old Dominion won Duo and Group of the Year respectively.
The performances were fast and furious: Jelly Roll launched into a rocking rendition of her new song “Liar,” followed closely by Kelsea Ballerini featuring Noah Kahan – incorporating her song “Mountain with a View” into her viral hit “ Stick Season.”
Tigirlily Gold did “I Tried A Ring On,” Texas-born Cody Johnson brought his “Dirt Cheap” and Miranda Lambert debuted her new single “Wranglers.”
Kane Brown delivered a moving cover of “Georgia On My Mind.” Thomas Rhett performed “Beautiful As You” and everyone’s favorite couple, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, brought the adorable “Purple Irises” to the ACM stage.
Park McCollum performed his hit “Burn It Down,” new male artist of the year Nate Smith and pop-punk powerhouse Avril Lavigne performed their new track, “Bulletproof,” and host McEntire closed out the show. show with his new single, “I Can’t.”
The 2024 ACM Awards were broadcast live on Prime Video and on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live.
NBC Chicago
