Brooks & Dunn caught up with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly on the Winners Walk at the ACM Awards 2026.
Ella Langley joined an elite group of artists at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday (May 17), becoming just the fifth performer to win back-to-back awards for single of the year. She won last year for “You Look Like You Love Me,” her sexy collab with Riley Green, and won again this year with her crossover smash “Choosin’ Texas.”
The universally relatable “Choosin’ Texas” has logged 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The ACM Award for single of the year goes to the artist(s), producer(s) and record company/label(s). If an artist also produced or coproduced the winning record, as Langley did here, he or she gets two awards.
Miranda Lambert, who coproduced Langley’s record with Langley and Ben West, previously won the ACM Award for single of the year as an artist with “The House That Built Me” in 2011, “Over You” in 2013 and “Mama’s Broken Heart” in 2014. Lambert is one of only four artists in ACM history to win four times in this category. The others are Alan Jackson (as an artist on four singles) and George Strait and Tim McGraw (as both artist and producer on two singles each).
Here are the five artists who have won back-to-back ACM Awards for single of the year. The year shown is the year of the ceremony.
The ACM 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.
Zach Top caught up with Ellie Thumann & Billboard’s Tetris Kelly at the ACM Awards 2026.
Music played and the people sang when Avery Anna took the stage for her performance at the 2026 ACM Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday (May 17).
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The new female artist of the year winner — who claimed the crown over Mackenzie Carpenter, Dasha, Caroline Jones and Emily Ann Roberts — kicked off her rockin’ set with a cover of Cher’s 1966 Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” which was also previously covered by Nancy Sinatra later that same year.
From there, with guitars blazing, the rising country music star went into her track “Blood Runs Thicker” off EP Forgive, Forget, which arrived earlier in the year. “Blood runs much thicker than water/ I am my father’s daughter,” she sang with power and edge during the chorus. “But you’re such a toxic talker/ So what do you do when you’re torn between the two, no?”
Dressed in a strapless black leather corset with matching pants, Avery Anna gave a rock n’ roll edge to her set not only with her choice of song and outfit, but also with her actions on stage. At one point, her blonde hair whipping around, she grabbed a pair of drumsticks and banged away on the drums as her drummer played along with her.
The 61st annual Academy of Country Music Awards were hosted by first-time host Shania Twain at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and aired live on Prime Video. Megan Moroney led the night in nominations, boasting an impressive nine nods.
The ACM 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.
Chris Stapleton caught up with Ellie Thumann & Billboard’s Tetris Kelly at the ACM Awards 2026.
Still-rising country hitmaker Riley Green took the stage at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night (May 17) to perform his latest hit, the bad-decisions ballad “Change My Mind.”
Wearing a typical black Stetson and muscle-baring denim shirt, Green delivered a smoldering performance of the hit song. The singer-songwriter took things to the next level on the bridge, as he walked out from the set he’d been playing in front of with his backing band — designed to look like the interior of a wood cabin — and approached a microphone on a side stage surrounded by the audience, where his no-doubt swooning fans could better appreciate the song’s slow-burning heat.
Green is nominated for four awards at the 2026 ceremonies: album of the year (for Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe)), male artist of the year, music event of the year (for “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Ella Langley) and artist-songwriter of the year (which he lost before the broadcast to his duet partner Langley). He’s a four-time career winner at the awards, including a win for top new male vocalist in 2020, and two awards for his and Langley’s first duet “You Look Like You Love Me” in 2024: single of the year and visual media of the year.
“Change My Mind” currently ranks at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated May 16), having spent 14 weeks on the chart and previously peaked at No. 27. The song already marks Green’s fourth top 40 hit on the chart, following the two aforementioned Langley collabs, and his own solo “Worst Way,” a No. 20 hit in summer 2025.
Riley Green caught up with Ellie Thumann & Billboard’s Tetris Kelly at the ACM Awards 2026.
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.
Kelsea Ballerini caught up with Ellie Thumann & Billboard’s Tetris Kelly at the ACM Awards 2026.
Country-style glitz and glam descended upon Las Vegas for the 61st annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday (May 17) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Stars such as Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson – who are both scheduled to perform, with the latter kicking off the show airing on Prime Video – arrived on the ACMs’ red carpet in their finest, with the “Be Her” singer stunning in a white sweetheart-necklined gown, and Wilson red hot in a strapless red-fringe floor-length number.
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Host Shania Twain dazzled in a silver sequined number that appeared to feature a fierce, black-sequined cat at the bottom, paired with black leather gloves that went up to nearly her shoulders.
Shaboozey looked sleek with a black cowboy hat, stylish sunglasses, a white collared shirt and long black leather coat, while Tucket Wetmore, the new male artist of the year, was stylish in a cornflower blue suit with black piping and matching shirt. (Avery Anna was previously announced as the new female artist of the year.)
Going into the ceremony, women led in nominations, with Megan Moroney in the lead with nine nods, eight for Miranda Lambert and seven each for Langley and Wilson. Up for entertainer of the year are Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Moroney, Chris Stpleton, Morgan Wallen and Wilson. This is the fourth year in a row Wallen has been nominated in the category, but he has yet to win.
The ACM 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.
