Artist Maren Morris wins big at 56th annual ACM Awards
For the second year, the ACM awards took place in multiple smaller sites around Nashville, including the emblematic Grand Ole Opry House, rather than at the usual Las Vegas venue
Broadcasting before live audiences from country music’s hometown, Nashville, Tennessee, the 56th Academy of Country Music awards show brought a star-studded Sunday night. Luke Bryan took the top prize for Entertainer of the Year, while Chris Stapelton won Album of the Year for “Starting Over”. Morris was awarded Female Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for “The Bones”, and Thomas Rhet was named Male Artist of the Year.
For the second year, the ACM awards took place in multiple smaller sites around Nashville, including the emblematic Grand Ole Opry House, rather than at the usual Las Vegas venue.
More than two dozen performers, including co-hosts Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, as well as genre stars Kenny Chesney and Maren Morris, who won two awards, took part in the three-hour show. The award nominees sat spaced out in the mostly empty front rows of the Opry, all wearing masks, as the audience applauded and cheered from the higher floors. Bryan was scheduled to perform at the award show but had to bow out ater recently testing positive for COVID-19.
“I’m so sorry I could not be there,” he said in a video message from Los Angeles, promising his fans he would be back soon. Morris thanked the talented artistes she competed with for inspiring her, saying, “I have heard some of the best music out of you all this past year.”
Miranda Lambert, the most nominated female artist in the Academy’s history with 35 ACM wins, kicked off the show alongside Elle King with a duet rendition of “Drunk (and I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”.
Among the performances, Carrie Underwood and Cece Winans stood out for a medley of gospel songs including “Amazing Grace” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”
Guyton, a nominee for new Female Artist of the Year, and the first Black woman to host the ACM awards, performed her song “Hold On” with a gospel choir accompaniment. Urban, the 2019 Entertainer of the Year winner, who returned this year ater hosting the 2020 ACM show, thrilled the audience with his new song “Tumbleweed.”
Those acts performed on Sunday, as did Alan Jackson, Lady A, Blake Shelton, Ashley Mcbryde, Brothers Osborne and Guyton, who gave an allstar performance of “Hold On” during the show, which she hosted with Keith Urban. She recently had her first child and became the first Black solo woman nominated for a Grammy in this country category this year. Sweet and Bryan weren’t the only country stars missing from the show. Morgan Wallen, whose latest album and singles have found major success on both the country and pop charts, was declared ineligible by the ACMS ater he was caught on camera using a racial slur earlier this year.