The 2023 ACM Awards aired live from Texas on Thursday on Prime Video

The 2023 ACM Awards were in full swing!
The annual country music show — which aired Thursday night on Prime Video from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas and featured Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks as hosts — got things started on Wednesday with a series of early wins.
Zach Bryan and Hailey Whitters were the first to take home a trophy, as Bryan won new male artist of the year and Whitters won new female artist of the year on Wednesday. Ashley Gorley, meanwhile, who’s co-written hits like “Sand in My Boots” for Morgan Wallen and “You Should Probably Leave” for Chris Stapleton, won songwriter of the year.
Whitters expressed her shock and excitement on Instagram, tagging the show and writing “WHAT 😭” as the caption on a post shortly after she was given her award. Bryan, meanwhile, thanked the Academy of Country Music in an Instagram Story.
HARDY entered the night as the most-nominated artist, with seven nods, including song of the year and artist-songwriter of the year. He shared three of his nominations with Lainey Wilson, who was nominated for six awards.
Trailing them are Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Cole Swindell, who will each vie for five trophies.



Lambert, who won the coveted Triple Crown Award last year, is up for female artist of the year for a record-breaking 17th time; this year’s nomination pushes her past Reba McEntire’s 16 nods in the category.
If either Combs or Stapleton take home entertainer of the year, they too will be Triple Crown winners, which means an artist has won entertainer of the year, new artist and artist of the year.
The show is set to be a star-studded affair, with performances from Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, HARDY, Brown, Combs, Cody Johnson, Lambert, Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen, The War and Treaty, Wilson, Bailey Zimmerman and Parton, who will debut the first single from her upcoming rock album.
Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood will also duet on a medley of hits, while Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina will team up on “She Had Me at Heads Carolina (Remix).” Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti and Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne will also sing “Bonfire at Tina’s,” while Ed Sheeran will appear for a special performance.
See below for the complete list of ACM Award winners.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Jason Aldean
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Jordan Davis
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Priscilla Block
Megan Moroney
Caitlyn Smith
Morgan Wade
Hailey Whitters
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Zach Bryan
Jackson Dean
ERNEST
Dylan Scott
Nate Smith
Bailey Zimmerman
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde
Producer: John Osborne
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville
Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records
Growin’ Up – Luke Combs
Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton
Record Company-Label: Columbia Records
Mr. Saturday Night – Jon Pardi
Producers: Jon Pardi, Bart Butler, Ryan Gore
Record Company-Label: Capitol Records Nashville
Palomino – Miranda Lambert
Producers: Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Mikey Reaves
Record Company-Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
Heart Like A Truck – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records
Never Wanted To Be That Girl – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde
Producers: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Records/Warner Music Nashville
She Had Me At Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville
Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
Producer: Dann Huff
Record Company-Label: RCA Nashville
‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville/CoJo Music
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
Sand In My Boots – Morgan Wallen
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy
Publishers: Relative Music Group; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing
She Had Me At Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols
Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee; Be A Light Publishing; Colden Rainey Music; EMI Blackwood Music Inc; Songs Of Roc Nation Music; Sony Tree Publishing; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Universal Music Corp; WC Music Corp; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson
Songwriters: Ben Stennis, Matt Rogers
Publishers: Anthem Canalco Publishing; Dead Aim Music; The Stennis Mightier Music
wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair
Publishers: Humerus Publishing Global; Nontypical Music; Pile of Schmidt Songs; Rednecker Music; Relative Music Group; Round Hill Verses Publishing; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; The Money Tree Vibez; WC Music Corp; Who Wants to Buy My Publishing
You Should Probably Leave – Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Chris Stapleton
Publishers: One77 Songs; Sea Gayle Music; Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing; Spirit Two Nashville; WC Music Corp
VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
HEARTFIRST – Kelsea Ballerini
Producers: Christen Pinkston & Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: P Tracy
She Had Me At Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell
Producer: Troy Jackson
Director: Spidey Smith
Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
Producer: Luke Arreguin
Director: Alex Alvga
‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson
Producer: Maddy Hayes
Director: Dustin Haney
wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Producer: Inkwell Productions
Director: Justin Clough
What He Didn’t Do – Carly Pearce
Producer: Ryan Byrd
Director: Alexa Campbell
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Nicolle Galyon
Ashley Gorley
Chase McGill
Josh Osborne
Hunter Phelps
ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
ERNEST
HARDY
Miranda Lambert
Morgan Wallen
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
At the End of a Bar – Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny
Producers: Chris DeStefano, Chris Young
Record Company-Label: RCA Nashville
She Had Me At Heads Carolina [Remix] – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville
Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown
Producer: Dann Huff
Record Company-Label: RCA Nashville
Thinking ‘Bout You – Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records
wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records
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