Country music stars were in full force for the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, which honored country’s top artists on Sunday (April 18) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, the evening’s ceremonies saw a lot of firsts and a lot of live performances – from different locations spread out around Nashville – by some of country’s biggest names. From Carrie Underwood to Miranda Lambert, plus Eric Church and Dan + Shay, the 2021 ACM Awards was definitely a memorable evening.
Miranda’s reign as the most-nominated artist in ACM history continues – adding five more to her count. And, for the first time ever, girl power dominated for Single of the Year – all five nominees were female! And, crossing over from pop are first-time ACM nominees John Legend and Gwen Stefani, who got nods for their collabs with Carrie Underwood and Blake Shelton, respectively.
Check out who took home the trophy from the 2021 ACM Awards. Congratulations to all the winners!
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
WINNER — Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
WINNER — Maren Morris
Carly Pearce
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Eric Church
WINNER — Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
WINNER — Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
GROUP OF THE YEAR
WINNER — Old Dominion
Lady A
Little Big Town
The Cadillac Three
The Highwomen
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ingrid Andress
Tenille Arts
WINNER — Gabby Barrett
Mickey Guyton
Caylee Hammack
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
WINNER — Jimmie Allen
Travis Denning
HARDY
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Born Here Live Here Die Here – Luke Bryan Producers: Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville
Mixtape Vol. 1 – Kane Brown Producers: Andrew Goldstein, Charlie Handsome, Dann Huff, Lindsay Rimes Record Label: RCA Nashville
Never Will – Ashley McBryde Producer: Jay Joyce Record Label: Warner Music Nashville
Skeletons – Brothers Osborne Producer: Jay Joyce Record Label: EMI Records Nashville
WINNER — Starting Over – Chris Stapleton Producers: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb Record Label: Mercury Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
“Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert Producer: Jay Joyce Record Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville
“I Hope” – Gabby Barrett Producers: Ross Copperman, Zach Kale Record Label: Warner Music Nashville
WINNER — “I Hope You’re Happy Now” – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice Producers: busbee Record Label: Big Machine Records / Curb Records
“More Hearts Than Mine” – Ingrid Andress Producers: Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis Record Label: Warner Music Nashville
“The Bones” – Maren Morris Producer: Greg Kurstin Record Label: Columbia Nashville
SONG OF THE YEAR
“Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert Songwriter(s): Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby Publishers: Emileon Songs; Little Louder Songs; Pink Dog Publishing; Songs of Universal, INC; Sony ATV Tree Publishing; Wrucke for You Publishing
“One Night Standards” – Ashley McBryde Songwriter(s): Ashley McBryde, Nicolette Hayford, Shane McAnally Publishers: Canned Biscuit Songs; Smackworks Music; Smack Blue, LLC; Smackstreet Music; Tempo Investments; Warner Geo Met Ric Music; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
“Some People Do” – Old Dominion Songwriter(s): Jesse Frasure, Matt Ramsey, Thomas Rhett, Shane McAnally Publishers: Carrot Seed Songs; EMI Blackwood Music INC; Smackville Music; Songs of ROC Nation; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp; Smack Hits; Tempo Investments; Warner Gro Met Ric Music
“Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton Songwriter(s): Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson Publishers: I Wrote These Songs; Straight Six Music; WC Music Corp
WINNER — “The Bones” – Maren Morris Songwriter(s): Jimmy Robbins, Maren Morris, Laura Veltz Publishers: Big Machine Music, LLC; Extraordinary Alien Publishing; International Dog Music; Oh Denise Publishing; Round Hill Songs; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Better Than We Found It” – Maren Morris Director: Gabrielle Woodland Producers: Sarah Kunin, Jennifer Pepke
“Bluebird” – Miranda Lambert Director: Trey Fanjoy Producer: Heather Levenstone
“Gone” – Dierks Bentley Directors: Wes Edwards, Ed Pryor, Travis Nicholson, Running Bear and Sam Siske, with animation by Skylar Wilson Producer: David Garcia
“Hallelujah” – Carrie Underwood and John Legend Director: Randee St. Nicholas Producer: Greg Wells
WINNER – “Worldwide Beautiful” – Kane Brown Director: Alex Alvga Producer: Christen Pinkston
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s))
“Be A Light” – Thomas Rhett featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban Producer: Dann Huff Record Label: The Valory Music Co.
“Does To Me” – Luke Combs feat. Eric Church Producer: Scott Moffatt Record Label: River House Artists/Columbia Nashville
WINNER — “I Hope You’re Happy Now” – Carly Pearce & Lee Brice Producer: busbee Record Label: Big Machine Records / Curb Records
“Nobody But You” – Blake Shelton ft. Gwen Stefani Producer: Scott Hendricks Record Label: Warner Music Nashville
“One Beer” – HARDY ft. Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson Producers: Derek Wells, Joey Moi Record Label: Big Loud Records
“One Too Many” – Keith Urban, P!nk Producers: Cutfather, Dan McCarroll, Keith Urban, PhD Record Label: Capitol Records Nashville
