The 2026 ACM Awards kicked off Sunday (May 17) night in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with a bang – albeit one you could have seen coming a country mile away.
The evening’s first award, the prestigious song of the year Academy of Country Music Award, went to “Choosin’ Texas,” the nine-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 from Ella Langley that’s taken America by storm.
The song of the year ACM Award goes to songwriter(s), publisher(s) and artist(s), so Langley won alongside cowriters Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert and Joybeth Taylor, with Bada Bing & Bada Langley Publishing, Little Louder Songs and Sony Music Publishing winning for publishing.
“If you’ve ever met me you know I am not at a loss for words often,” Langley said while holding the trophy. “All I gotta say is, thank you God for putting me in a room with these three people here,” she said, pointing to her cowriters on stage. Thanking her fans, she admitted, “I don’t know why you latched onto this song,” but said she was grateful for the support.
Langley revealed the songwriting quartet have a group messaging chat named “Choosin’” where they “sent stats to” each other about the smash. Based on the song’s ongoing success, it doesn’t seem like that chat will go silent any time soon. “I never would have imagined to even dream for it,” Langley said of its runaway success.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
