New stars like Langley as well as veteran acts like Cody Johnson, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton and many more will be celebrated. And because the 60th annual ACM Awards are just around the corner, it is time to get your viewing plans in order.
The awards ceremony will take place May 8 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas. Reba McEntire, a 16-time ACM Award winner, will once again host.
But where is it streaming, who is nominated, what's noteworthy this year and who will perform?
Read on for those answers and more.
How to watch the ACM Awards
The ACM Awards will stream on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live on May 8 at 8 p.m. EDT, 7 p.m. CT and 5 p.m. PT. No Prime membership is required to view the live stream.
Who is nominated?
First-time nominee Langley leads the ACM Awards this year with eight nominations. And ahead of the award show, she's already taken home one: In April, it was announced that Langley won the title of female new artist; the male award went to Zach Top.
Johnson, Wilson and Wallen closely follow Langley's nominations with seven each. Stapleton has six nominations; Riley Green and Post Malone are tied with five.
Johnson, Wilson, Wallen and Stapleton are up for the night’s top category, entertainer of the year. Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs and Jelly Roll are also nominated for the award.
In the album of the year category, Top's "Cold Beer & Country Music" and Megan Moroney's "Am I Okay? (I'll Be Fine)" faces off against Wilson's "Whirlwind," Jelly Roll's "Beautifully Broken," and Post Malone's "F-1 Trillion."
And in the single of the year category, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” competes with Johnson’s “Dirt Cheap,” Malone and Wallen’s “I Had Some Help,” Stapleton’s “White Horse” and Langley and Green’s “You Look Like You Love Me.”
What's noteworthy?
Six of Langley’s nominations stem from her smash hit “You Look Like You Love Me” with Green. It’s up for single of the year, song of the year as both an artist and songwriter, music event of the year and visual media of the year as an artist and director.
Controversially, there are no nods for Beyoncé's landmark "Cowboy Carter," which won the Grammy for both album of the year and country album of the year in February. Miranda Lambert's "Postcards from Texas" was also not nominated.
Keith Urban will be awarded the coveted ACM Triple Crown Award, marking the first time an artist has received the trophy on stage since Carrie Underwood was honored in 2010.
The ACM Triple Crown Award is given to musicians who've previously taken home three distinct titles at the ACM Awards: new artist, artist and entertainer of the year.
Who is performing?
Wilson, who took home the entertainer of the year prize in 2024, will perform.
Other performers will include Langley, Top, Stapleton, Ballerini, Lambert, Moroney, Blake Shelton and Alan Jackson.
There will be a few star-studded duets as well. Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts will take the stage together, as will Jelly Roll and Shaboozey. Brooks & Dunn will perform with Cody Johnson.
And perhaps most exciting of all: the 2025 ACM Awards will open with a 14-minute “Songs of the Decades” performance highlight 60 years of country music and featuring McEntire, Clint Black, Dan + Shay, Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Sugarland and more.
___
For more coverage of this year's ACM Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-of-country-music-awards
Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP