Keith Urban Host of 2020 ACM Awards
After being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards aired on Wednesday night, hosted by Keith Urban. The show was broadcast live from three iconic Nashville locations: Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and the Bluebird Cafe.
Taylor Swift performed “Betty” from her “Folklore” album, marking her first performance on a country music show in seven years. Other performers included Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Luke Bryan, Kelsea Ballerini and Urban.
In a historic moment for the show, Thomas Rhett and Underwood tied for the entertainer of the year award. The other big winners of the night were Morris and Combs, who won female artist of the year and male artist of the year, respectively. Combs also won album of the year for “What You See Is What You Get,” and Morris was part of the ensemble performance that won music event of the year.
The 55th Annual ACM Awards Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett Tied For Entertainer Of The Year
The 55th Annual ACM Awards
The event, hosted by Keith Urban, honors the best in country music. Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, and Old Dominion lead all artists with five nominations each. So who will walk away with the most wins?
UNDERWOOD IS THE FIRST FEMALE TO WIN THREE ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
OLD DOMINION’S MATTHEW RAMSEY, TREVOR ROSEN, BRAD TURSI
LEAD WITH THREE INDIVIDUAL WINS FOR THE NIGHT
Old Dominion Performance at the 55th ACM Awards
See the full list of winners
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett -- WINNER/TIE
Carrie Underwood -- WINNER/TIE
The Historical Tie for Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett Entertainer of the Year at the 55th ACM Awards
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris -- WINNER
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood
Maren Morris at the 55th ACM Awards
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs -- WINNER
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
Luke Combs at the 55th ACM Awards
DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay -- WINNER
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
Dan And Shay at the 55th ACM Awards
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion -- WINNER
The Highwomen
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Lindsay Ell
Caylee Hammack
Tenille Townes -- WINNER
Tennille Townes at the 55th ACM Awards
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jordan Davis
Russell Dickerson
Riley Green -- WINNER
Cody Johnson
Morgan Wallen
Riley Green at the 55th ACM Awards
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Center Point Road – Thomas Rhett
GIRL – Maren Morris
Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi
What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs -- WINNER
Wildcard – Miranda Lambert
Luke Combs at the 55th ACM Awards
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
"God’s Country" – Blake Shelton -- WINNER
"One Man Band" – Old Dominion
"Rainbow" – Kacey Musgraves
"Rumor" – Lee Brice
"What If I Never Get Over You" – Lady Antebellum
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani at the 55th ACM Awards
SONG OF THE YEAR
"10,000 Hours" – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
"Girl Goin’ Nowhere" – Ashley McBryde
"God’s Country" – Blake Shelton
"One Man Band" – Old Dominion -- WINNER
"Some of It" – Eric Church
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"10,000 Hours" – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
"God’s Country" – Blake Shelton
"One Man Band" – Old Dominion
"Remember You Young" – Thomas Rhett -- WINNER
"Sugar Coat" – Little Big Town
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey -- WINNER
Shane McAnally
Josh Osborne
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
"10,000 Hours" – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
"Dive Bar" – Garth Brooks feat. Blake Shelton
"Fooled Around and Fell in Love" – Miranda Lambert feat. Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack & Elle King -- WINNER
"Old Town Road" – Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
"What Happens in a Small Town" – Brantley Gilbert feat. Lindsay Ell
Tweet: Winners for the 55th @ACMawards have been revealed! Congrats to this year’s Entertainer of the Year Winners @ThomasRhett & @carrieunderwood #ACMawards
NASHVILLE, TN (September 16, 2020) – Winners have been announced for the 55TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™, a Night of Heart and Hits Live from Nashville. 15-time ACM Award®-winning artist Keith Urban hosted the show featuring three iconic Nashville venues including Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. For the first time in ACM Awards history, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood tied for the Academy’s highest honor Entertainer of the Year Award – the first ever tie in that category. This is Rhett’s first win in the Entertainer of the Year category, and Underwood’s third win, making her the most awarded female in the ACM Entertainer of the Year category.
Old Dominion won Group of the Year Award for the third consecutive year and won their first Song of the Year Award for “One Man Band” with Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi each receiving an additional win as songwriters. This marks two overall wins as a group, with Ramsey, Rosen and Tursi leading the night with three individual wins, each. Miranda Lambert continues her reign as most-awarded artist in ACM Awards history with 35 wins, after taking home this year’s trophy in Music Event of the Year category for “Fooled Around And Fell In Love.” Dan + Shay won Duo of the Year marking their second win in a row in the category.
The evening continued with more first-time wins including Luke Combs earning his first Male Artist of the Year Award and his first-ever win for Album of the Year for What You See Is What You Get. Maren Morris won her first Female Artist of the Year Award and her first Music Event of the Year for “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” alongside Lambert, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack & Elle King. Blake Shelton won Single of the Year Award for “God’s Country” making this his first-ever win in the category.
Previously announced, Riley Green won New Male Artist of the Year and Tenille Townes won New Female Artist of the Year. Townes also won her first Music Event of the Year Award and both performed on the telecast and are featured on the newly released “On The Road Again (ACM Lifting Lives® Edition)” single, Willie Nelson’s timeless hit, featuring the ACM New Artist Nominees Ingrid Andress, Gabby Barrett, Jordan Davis, Russell Dickerson, Lindsay Ell, Caylee Hammack, Cody Johnson, and Morgan Wallen, joined by Nelson. Produced by Ross Copperman and Jimmy Robbins, the single is available via Warner Music Nashville across all digital platforms and can be heard on Country radio now (LISTEN HERE). Proceeds from the single will benefit ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund to be disbursed to individuals in the Country Music community who are currently in need of pandemic relief assistance.
This year’s 55th ACM Awards featured an all-star lineup of collaborations and memorable performances featuring 24 performances, including 41 hit songs. The awards telecast kicked off with Entertainer of the Year nominees performing a medley of each of their greatest hits. Luke Bryan performed “Rain Is A Good Thing,” Eric Church performed “Drink In My Hand,” Luke Combs performed “When It Rains It Pours,” Thomas Rhett performed “It Goes Like This” and Carrie Underwood performed “Before He Cheats.”
Global superstar and two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift, returned to the ACM Awards stage for the first time in seven years with a world premiere performance of “betty” off her record-breaking new album Folklore. 55th ACM Awards host Keith Urban performed the world television premiere of his new single, “One Too Many” with international pop icon P!NK, from Urban’s new album out Friday, Speed of Now. Mickey Guyton made her solo ACM Award performance debut with “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” featuring surprise guest Urban on piano. Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani performed their latest single “Happy Anywhere.” Eric Church opened his performance with “Ragged Old Flag” a poem read by Johnny Cash which led into his single “Stick That In Your Country Song.”
In celebration of the 95th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry, newly crowned three-time ACM Entertainer of the Year winner, Carrie Underwood, honored trailblazing female Opry members by performing a medley of songs including Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man),” Barbara Mandrell’s “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool,” Martina McBride’s “A Broken Wing,” Reba McEntire’s “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia,” and Dolly Parton’s “Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That.”
Additional performances included first-time ACM Awards performer Jimmie Allen (“Make Me Want To”), Kelsea Ballerini (“hole in the bottle”), Gabby Barrett (“I Hope”), Kane Brown (“Worldwide Beautiful”), Luke Bryan (“One Margarita”), Luke Combs (“Better Together”), Dan + Shay (“I Should Probably Go To Bed”), Florida Georgia Line (“I Love My Country”), Riley Green (“I Wish Grandpas Never Died”), Miranda Lambert (“Bluebird”) featuring Songwriters Natalie Hemby & Luke Dick, Tim McGraw (“I Called Mama”), Maren Morris (“To Hell & Back”), Old Dominion (Medley of “One Man Band,” “Written in the Sand,” “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart,” “Break Up With Him,” “Snapback,” “Song For Another Time,” “Hotel Key” & “Make It Sweet”), Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi (“Beer Can’t Fix”), Tenille Townes (“Somebody’s Daughter”), and Morgan Wallen (“Whiskey Glasses”). Presenters included Lauren Alaina, Lily Aldridge, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black, ACM National Radio Personality of the Year Winner Bobby Bones, Cam, Darius Rucker, Runaway June and CeCe Winans. Rucker also gave a sneak peek of the National Museum of African American Music, scheduled to open this Fall in Downtown Nashville.
For the first time in the show’s history, the 55th ACM Awards took place in Nashville, broadcasting from three iconic Country Music venues: Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. Artists who performed from the Ryman include Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Riley Green, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi, and Tenille Townes. Performances from the Grand Ole Opry House included Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Dan + Shay, Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Mickey Guyton, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Morgan Wallen. Artists at The Bluebird Cafe included Jimmie Allen, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert featuring songwriters Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick, and Tim McGraw. Fans also enjoyed a virtual collaboration by Keith Urban and P!NK as well as a virtual Bluebird Cafe performance with Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani. Multi-ACM Award winning artist Trisha Yearwood delivered a special performance from the Opry House of “I’ll Carry You Home” from her critically acclaimed album Every Girl for the In Memoriam, paying tribute to those we have lost in the Country Music industry.
For all the coverage, go to ACM Awards