ACM Awards: Nominees, Winners and The Hottest Outfits

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs) has recently honoured this year's best stars in the genre, and down below is a list of nominees, winners and the hottest outfits from the night.

On May 11th, at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, the ACMs were cohosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks.

This is Dolly's second time hosting and Garth's first.

Dolly has one 13 ACMs over her career, and Garth has won 22 ACMS, six being the night's most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year.

“The fact that they would even ask is flattering and the fact that I get to host with Ms. Parton is unbelievable. The surprise of the night is you’re gonna see this beautiful woman carry this 260-pound ass all night.”

A lot of fan favourite stars were up for the prestigious trophy including Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood and Morgan Wallen.

Winning the award would have meant a lot for Morgan Wallen as he has recently had to cancel a bunch concerts, including his performance at the ACMs due to an injury to his vocal chords.

“After 10 days of vocal rest, I performed three shows last weekend in Florida and by the third one I felt terrible. So I went in and got scoped yesterday, and they told me that I reinjured my vocal cords and that I have vocal fold trauma. Their advice is that I go on vocal rest for six weeks, so that’s what I’m gonna do.” 

He admitted he had “tore up my lat [muscle]” during a show in Australia, adding, “I’ve been trying to work through that quietly, but this time off is gonna help me get that back right as well.”

Others performers were also set to bring the house down including Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Cole Swindell, Keith Urban and Lainey Wilson.

Dolly closed the show out with the debut of her new single.

“I’m doing my first rock ’n’ roll song, ‘World on Fire,’ which has a great message. That’ll hopefully be my moment. But we’re gonna just let it flow. What my heart says do, I do it.” 

The 2023 ACM Awards streamed live on Amazon Prime on May 11th.

See below the full list of nominee and winners:

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean

Kane Brown

Luke Combs

Miranda Lambert

Chris Stapleton - Winner

Carrie Underwood

Morgan Wallen

Female Artist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini

Miranda Lambert

Ashley McBryde

Carly Pearce

Lainey Wilson - Winner

Male Artist of the Year

Kane Brown

Luke Combs

Jordan Davis

Chris Stapleton

Morgan Wallen - Winner

Duo of the Year

Brooks & Dunn

Brothers Osborne - Winner

Dan + Shay

Maddie & Tae

The War and Treaty

Group of the Year

Lady A

Little Big Town

Midland

Old Dominion - Winner

Zac Brown Band

New Female Artist of the Year

Priscilla Block

Megan Moroney

Caitlyn Smith

Morgan Wade

Hailey Whitters - Winner

New Male Artist of the Year

Zach Bryan - Winner

Jackson Dean

ERNEST

Dylan Scott

Nate Smith

Bailey Zimmerman

Album of the Year

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville by Ashley McBryde

Bell Bottom Country by Lainey Wilson - Winner

Growin’ Up by Luke Combs

Mr. Saturday Night by Jon Pardi

Palomino by Miranda Lambert

Single of the Year

“Heart Like a Truck” by Lainey Wilson

“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” by Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina” by Cole Swindell - Winner

“Thank God” by Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown

“‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson

Song of the Year

“Sand in My Boots” by Morgan Wallen

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina” by Cole Swindell - Winner

“‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson

“Wait in the Truck” by HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson

“You Should Probably Leave” by Chris Stapleton

Visual Media of the Year

“HEARTFIRST” by Kelsea Ballerini

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina” by Cole Swindell

“Thank God” by Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown

“‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson

“Wait in the Truck” by HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson - Winner

“What He Didn’t Do” by Carly Pearce

Songwriter of the Year

Nicolle Galyon

Ashley Gorley - Winner

Chase McGill

Josh Osborne

Hunter Phelps

Artist — Songwriter of the Year

Luke Combs

ERNEST

HARDY - Winner

Miranda Lambert

Morgan Wallen

Music Event of the Year

“At the End of a Bar” by Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny

“She Had Me at Heads Carolina” [Remix] by Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina

“Thank God” by Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown

“Thinking ‘Bout You” by Dustin Lynch featuring MacKenzie Porter

“Wait in the Truck” by HARDY featuring Lainey Wilson - Winner

During the night there were many hot couples and artist, showcasing their gorgeous outfits.

See below the night's best outfits:

Jason Aldean and Brittany Aldean

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman

Kane Brown and Katelyn Jae Brown

Hardy and Caleigh Ryan

Brendan McLoughlin and Miranda Lambert

Kimberly Perry and Johnny Costello

Tyler Hubbard and Hayley Hubbard

Charles Esten and Patty Hanson

Luke Combs and Nicole Combs

Brian Kelley and Brittney Marie Cole

Cole Swindell and Courtney Little

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood

Jordan Davis and Kristen Davis

Tanya Trotter and Michael Trotter Jr.

Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo

Brittany Warthan and Randall King

Coffey Anderson and Criscilla Crossland

Nicolle Galyon

Kendra Scott

Brittany Kerr

Miranda Lambert

Katelyn Jae Brown

Mickey Guyton

Corey Kent

Olivia Dunne

Nate Smith

Ernest

Jon Pardi

Lainey Wilson

Carly Pearce

Ed Sheeran

Nicole Kidman

Dak Prescott

Hailey Whitters

Caylee Hammack

Jason Aldean

Kane Brown

Gabby Barrett

Bailey Zimmerman

Ashley McBryde

Brandy Clark

Pillbox Patti

Trisha Yearwood

Dolly Parton

Meghan Linsey

Hannah Ellis

Paige Hathaway

Caitlyn Smith

Jelly Roll

Priscilla Block

Kimberly Perry

Tenille Townes

Jordan Davis

MaRynn Taylor

Jackson Dean

Nastia Liukin

Jay DeMarcus

Lily Rose

MacKenzie Porter

Charles Esten

Cheyenne Kimball

Drew Baldwin

Rachel Smith

Breland

Josh Ross

Tiera Kennedy

Ashley Cooke

Nicole Combs

Kristen Davis

Elle King

Hillary Scott

Lauren Akins

Morgane Stapleton

Tanya Tucker

Brothers Osbourne

Tracy and Becca Lawrence

Dustin Lynch

Luke Scornavacco

Leo Brooks and Andrew Millsaps of Neon Union

Ian Munsick

Kelli and Hunter Phelps

Drew Baldridge

Brianna LaPaglia

Brittany McGuire

Chase Rice

Dela Reilley

Frank Ray

Pierre Wilson

Davis Burleson

Tigirlily Gold

Zack Bryan

Tyler Hubbard

ERNEST and Delaney Royer

Randy and Mary Travis

Jon Randall

Old Dominion

Jo Dee Messina

Bart Butler

Midland

Cody and Brandi Johnson

Jordan Schmidt and Renee Blair

Emmitt Smith

Courtney Little

And now for the stars who fans were desperate to see that night, but weren't able to make it.

Luke Bryan

Luke wasn’t nominated for any awards and wasn’t scheduled to perform, so that could explain his absence.

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood was nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the ACM Awards.

She was recently on a vacation in Florida with her sisters-in-law, and wasn’t scheduled to perform at the ACM Awards, so it's possible she took the opportunity to take some time off before her REFLECTION residency resumes in Las Vegas next month.

Morgan Wallen

Entertainer of the Year nominee Morgan Wallen had planned to attend the ACM Awards and was meant to perform.

Days before the ceremony, he explained his doctors have advised him to take a six-week vocal rest due to vocal fold trauma. 

He canceled all of his upcoming performances in the next six weeks, including his performance at the ACM Awards.

Thomas Rhett

Thomas was missing this year and it's unclear why. However, his presence was recognised by his co-writers on “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” when they won Song of the Year.

Reba McEntire

One of the biggest stars in country music, Reba McEntire was also absent and it's unclear why.

Wynonna Judd

Wynonna Judd was not at the ACM Awards this year, possibly due to the grieving of her mother Naomi Judd who she discussed in a documentary on Paramount+.

Kelsea Ballerini

Female Artist of the Year nominee Kelsea Ballerini had a good reason to miss the ACM Awards…she had a show that night!

She said, “playing a show tonight so won’t be able to make it to the ACM awards.”

Blake Shelton

Blake was most likely preparing for the first week of live shows on 'The Voice,' as this is his last season.