NEW YORK — It was her night once again. Lainey Wilson took home the top prize at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards — the title of entertainer of the year — for a second year in a row. And that was after she cleaned house, taking home trophies for both female artist and album of the year.
“I really do have the best fans in the world,” she said in her final acceptance speech, admitting to experiencing impostor syndrome. “I dreamed about entertaining. … Country music has given me more than I deserve.”
Beyond Wilson’s dominance, the 2025 ACM Awards were packed with celebration. Earlier, first-time and leading nominee Ella Langley’s duet with Riley Green, the ubiquitous “You Look Like You Love Me,” was named single and music event of the year.
Both Langley and Green used their first acceptance speech to shout out classic country — songs with talking in them — that inspired their modern hit.
A revisitation of the past might have been a theme Thursday night, evidenced right at the top of the ceremony: a 14-minute medley of six decades of country classics, performed by giants of the genre.
Host Reba McEntire launched into Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee,” followed by Clint Black with Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” and Wynonna Judd with The Judds’ “Why Not Me.” LeAnn Rimes returned to the ACM Awards stage for her 1997 ballad “Blue.” Little Big Town tackled their 2014 track “Girl Crush” and Dan + Shay delivered their “Tequila.”
It was an exciting way to kick off the ACM Awards, live from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas.
And it was a show highlight, rivaled only by the introduction of the ACM Alan Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award, the inaugural trophy given to its namesake, Jackson, after he performed “Remember When.”
In his acceptance speech, he joked that a fan named a dog after him. Having an award named after him? That isn’t half bad, either.
The first trophy of the night, the coveted song of the year, was awarded to Cody Johnson for his radio hit “Dirt Cheap.”
Performances followed, fast and furious. McEntire, Wilson and Miranda Lambert teamed up for the world premiere of their new single “Trailblazer,” celebrating women in country music.
Eric Church performed his brand-new single “Hands of Time,” succeeded by the most awarded artist in the history of the award show, Lambert with “Run.” She was then joined by Langley to duet “Kerosene” from Lambert’s 2005 debut album of the same name.
Zach Top stripped things down for “Use Me.” Blake Shelton channeled the great George Strait for his new single “Texas,” followed by Wilson with “Whirlwind.” Kelsea Ballerini performed atop her “Baggage.” Johnson rocked “The Fall,” before performing “Red Dirt Road” with Brooks & Dunn. Chris Stapleton and his wife, Morgane, harmonized on “It Takes a Woman.”
Jelly Roll and Shaboozey joined forces for their collaboration, “Amen.”
“It’s Shaboozey’s birthday,” Jelly Roll said. “We wanna thank y’all and we wanna thank God.”
Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts closed the show.
The Oak Ridge Boys gave the group of the year award to Old Dominion. It was a moving gesture; in 2024 the Oak Ridge Boys’ Joe Bonsall, a Grammy award winner and celebrated tenor, died from complications of the neuromuscular disorder Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Another tearjerker: McEntire leading the audience in a sing-along of the late Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Male artist of the year went to Stapleton. Duo of the year was awarded to Brooks & Dunn.
Megan Moroney covered Keith Urban’s “Stupid Boy” and Stapleton did “Blue Ain’t Your Color” ahead of the Australian superstar’s reception of 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.
If anything, the 60th ACM Awards proved the show is at its best when it celebrates new acts and legends in equal measure.
The ACM Awards streamed on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live. No Prime membership was required to view the livestream.
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For more coverage of this year’s ACM Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-of-country-music-awards
