The 59th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, held Thursday night (May 16) and streamed live on Amazon’s Prime Video, handed out awards to many artists whose music has had an undeniable impact over the past year, but they also deftly crammed more than a dozen performances into the space of two hours — including breaks in the streaming broadcast. Still, the evening — produced by Dick Clark Productions — felt tightly run, but never rushed. And of course, one of country music’s most professional, entertaining artists, Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntire, was leading the festivities.
In that two-hour span, the ACMs performances highlighted a range of performers, featured showcase after showcase of new music, and included a smattering of high-profile pop performers as well.
Dua Lipa made a surprise appearance, joining Chris Stapleton. Post Malone turned in one of the most solidly traditional country songs of the night. Nate Smith’s performance got an added edge thanks to rocker Avril Lavigne, while Kelsea Ballerini teamed with Noah Kahan to mesh their songs “Mountain With a View” and “Stick Season.”
Meanwhile, artists including Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson and McEntire all turned in performances of fresh material, while Kane Brown opted to honor the late Ray Charles by tackling one of the icon’s classics.
While every performance was solid during the evening, some stood out more than others. Here, we countdown to the top performance of the evening during the ACM Awards.
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Thomas Rhett offered up his new song “Beautiful as You.” Sauntering across the stage, TR continued in the same musical terrain as many of his romantic, uptempo, pop-aimed hits. His voice was top notch, but given the breadth of musical styles represented throughout the evening, his polished performance still seemed a little tame.
McCollum offered up his third Country Airplay chart-topper “Burn It Down” while seated on a stool on a smaller stage. The Texan’s voice was in fine form, though with his performance following sets from Chris Stapleton and Post Malone, the song lacked energy and verve by comparison.
Taking a cue from the song’s title, the stage was bathed in shades of violet, as a purple-clad Stefani traded verses and harmonies with her husband and duet partner on their new song, “Purple Irises.” Purple flowers surrounded the couple while the screen was emblazoned with a stained-glass effect of purple irises. Their voices blended well, and their energetic chemistry was undeniable, bringing heft to a fairly standard-sounding song.
Nate Smith, who was recently named Rookie of the Year at Billboard‘s Country Power Players ceremony earlier in the week, took the ACM Awards stage to perform “Bulletproof.” He was then joined by 2000s pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne, whose searing, razor-sharp vocals brought out the song’s punk edges. They shared an easygoing camaraderie, with each artist elevating the other. A solid collaboration from these two.
Kelsea Ballerini teamed with “Stick Season” hitmaker Noah Kahan to mesh two of their songs. The performance had a theatrical bent, beginning with Ballerini lying on a blue couch and singing “Mountain With a View” from her album Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, before the cameras shifted to Kahan, standing on a grassy stage set, performing his Hot 100 top 10 hit “Stick Season.” Ballerini joined in on harmonies as they traded off lyrics from each of the two songs. The pair of tracks meshed nicely, as did the performers’ voices, making this low-key performance a pleasure.
Over the course of his career, Toby Keith earned 14 ACM Awards, including a win for entertainer of the year. The late singer-songwriter was honored during this year’s ceremony as Jason Aldean performed Keith’s No. 1 “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”
Instead of the straight-forward rendering many may have expected, Aldean offered up a slowed-down version of the song, highlighted by fiddle. Aldean doesn’t quite have the burly, muscular voice to carry off the song’s swagger, but the performance came across as authentic and sincere, and he had no trouble with the lyrics — it was clear he knew the words by heart.
“We love you, Toby,” he said, as the cameras centered on Keith’s wife, Tricia, and his children as well as others in the audience who were wiping away tears.
This sister duo offered up superb, familial harmonies on their new song “I Tried a Ring On,” performing on the satellite stage, surrounded by the audience. The emotional heartbreak ballad translated well, highlighting their confidence and tight-knit performance ability on one of country music’s biggest nights.
Lambert dripped confidence from the first notes of her performance, sauntering to center stage to perform her new single, “Wranglers,” her first new music since signing with Republic Records, in partnership with Big Loud. Wearing a sparkly hat and a fringed and bedazzled jacket-pants set, Lambert was in top-shelf, classic form. She prowled the stage, performing as her twangy voice was imbued with a sultry drawl. The blues-dipped country/rock track gave her ample space to showcase the edge in her voice, and proved that her headstrong swagger is here to stay.
Brown has a solid voice, but with his slate of largely uptempo and often pop-oriented fare, rarely does he get a chance to fully showcase his vocal talents. On the ACMs stage this year, he reminded viewers that he’s as much a supple-voiced crooner as an energetic performer when he offered a version of Ray Charles’ 1960 classic “Georgia on My Mind.” Clad in a suit and surrounded by vocalists, piano, guitars and string players, Brown offered a stately, soulful and respectful rendering of a classic, briefly bringing a bit of Georgia mindset to the Lone Star State.
Jelly Roll has been steadily lobbing hits at Billboard‘s charts over the past year, notching three Country Airplay hits, including “Need a Favor,” and six tracks on the Hot 100 since 2022. On the ACMs stage, he introduced new music, performing his new soul-tinged, gospel-inflected country-rock track “Liar,” which offers reasoning and defiance against moments of temptation — whether that’s in the form of pills or other addictions.
He sang of the inner voices encouraging his addictions, voices that are “saying drink another whiskey/ pop another pill.” But in the chorus, he calls out those vices for what they are, on lyrics including, “You burned me one too many times/ Like a devil in disguise.”
Jelly Roll has made his mark with songs that speak to struggles, hopes and healing. On the ACMs stage, he kept that mission alive with a strong-hearted performance.
Though much buzz had been made in the weeks leading up to the ACM Awards, speculating whether Cowboy Carter purveyor Beyoncé would make an appearance at the ACM Awards, the audience got a surprise when another pop star — Dua Lipa — appeared, performing with Chris Stapleton, who is a perennial favorite collaborator for scores of artists from Pink to Taylor Swift.
Dua Lipa joined Chris Stapleton on “Think I’m in Love With You,” from Stapleton’s Higher album. The sultry performance paired his grizzled vocal with her soaring, polished tones, making for what was surely one of the most talked about performances.
Country Music Hall of Famer and host for this year’s ACM Awards ceremony McEntire closed out the evening with a performance of her new song, “I Can’t.” For decades, she has made commanding a stage seem effortless, with her octave-jumping, multi-syllabic vocal style and powerful stage presence — and this year’s ACM Awards performance was no exception.
A vocal choir, smoke and fire heightened the potency of the song’s empowering message. As the performance came to a close, sparks filled the stage as the melody soared, confetti rained down and Reba stared down the camera as only she can, delivering the song’s essence directly to the heart.
Lainey Wilson kicked off the night with an appropriate nod to the Lone Star State, offering up a performance of Little Texas’ “God Blessed Texas” — a song that made perfect use of her signature twang. Performing the song on a satellite stage, she ventured into the audience, walking through the crowd to the main stage to perform another barn-burner, her new song, “Hang Tight Honey.”
Wilson was all Louisiana swagger on the high-octane song, wielding her acoustic guitar while a bevy of backing vocalists, and later two guitarists, flanked Wilson on each side of the stage. The song ended with her holding her guitar aloft and welcoming host McEntire to usher in the awards evening. Wilson ended the evening as the night’s biggest winner, taking home the ACM’s entertainer of the year trophy.
Post Malone offered one of the most traditional country performances on the show, with the steel guitar-swathed, fiddle-laced heartbreak song “Never Love You Again,” with the rapper-singer wielding his acoustic guitar and offering a gritty, whiskey-soaked vocal on lines such as “I’ll love you ’til tomorrow/ Then I’ll never love you again.”
From there, Posty segued into his new hit, the Morgan Wallen collaboration “I Had Some Help,” though the “Last Night” singer was not there to join him for the song. Not to worry: Post Malone did end up with a duet partner after all: He later joined host McEntire to honor the late Allman Brothers Band singer-guitarist Dickey Betts with an a cappella performance of “Ramblin’ Man.”
Seated on a stool, Texan Johnson offered up a sincere performance of his new single “Dirt Cheap.” His performance was pared back, setting the focus squarely on this classic country construction and tale of of a man whose land is so filled with value and memories — the place where children grew up in the backyard, where lovers proposed and where loyal dogs were buried — that no amount of money would be enough to make him sell. As always, Johnson knows how to deliver a song, whether onstage or on record, and his straightforward performance was a highlight.