Lainey Wilson and Chris Stapleton were the top winners at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, which were presented on Thursday (May 16) at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Stapleton won four awards, more than anyone else, but Wilson won the top prize, entertainer of the year. Luke Combs and Jordan Davis each won two awards. (Under ACM rules, artists can win two awards in a few categories – one as an artist and one as producer or songwriter.)
Morgan Wallen was shut out, despite receiving six nods.
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Wilson won entertainer of the year two years after winning the ACM Award for new female artist of the year. That’s the fastest climb from a new artist award to entertainer of the year at the ACMs since The Chicks, then called Dixie Chicks, also made the advance in just two years. That female trio was named new group or duo in 1999 and won entertainer of the year in 2001.
Wilson thus achieves what the ACM calls the Triple Crown. She won new female artist of the year two years ago and female artist of the year last year. Wilson repeated in the latter category this year. She’s the first artist to win back-to-back awards in this category since Maren Morris in 2020-21.
Wilson also won music event of the year for the second year in a row. She won this year as a featured artist on Jelly Roll’s “Save Me.” She won last year as a featured artist on Hardy’s “Wait in the Truck.”
Stapleton won album of the year for the fourth time, a total equaled or exceeded only by Miranda Lambert, who has won five times in the category. Lambert won with five consecutive studio albums. Stapleton has won with four of his five solo studio albums. He missed only when From a Room, Vol. 2 lost to Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour. (He won two awards in this category, one as artist and one as co-producer.)
Stapleton won male artist of the year for the fourth time, just one shy of the all-time record of five wins shared by Merle Haggard, Brad Paisley and George Strait. Stapleton also won artist-songwriter of the year in the second year it was presented. Hardy was the inaugural winner last year. These awards up Stapleton’s ACM Awards trophy count to 20.
Combs’ “Fast Car” won single of the year. The crossover smash reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the fourth winner in that category to reach No. 1 on No. 2 on Billboard’s flagship singles chart, following Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” (the 1976 winner; No. 1); Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream” (the 1984 winner; No. 1) and Lady A’s “Need You Now” (the 2010 winner, No. 2). Combs won two awards for the single, as artist and co-producer.
But Tracy Chapman did not win song of the year for writing “Fast Car,” as was expected. The Jordan Davis hit “Next Thing You Know” won instead in that category. Davis co-wrote the song with Chase McGill, Greylan James and Josh Osborne. It’s the second win in this category for Osborne, who co-wrote the Old Dominion hit “One Man Band,” which won four years ago. (Davis won two awards in this category – one as artist and one as a cowriter.)
Old Dominion won group of the year for the seventh year in a row. That equals Rascal Flatts’ run of seven consecutive wins from 2003-09.
Dan + Shay won duo of the year for the fourth time, equaling Brothers Osborne’s four-year reign for the recent ACM record. The all-time record is held by Brooks & Dunn and The Judds, with 16 wins.
Megan Moroney won new female artist of the year, while Nate Smith won new male artist of the year. Both were also nominated in those categories last year, but lost to Hailey Whitters and Zach Bryan, respectively. ACM rules give artists two attempts to take home the award.
Tigirlily Gold won in the revived category of new duo or group of the year. The award was last presented five years ago to LANCO. Tigirlily Gold, which consists of sisters Kendra and Krista Slaubaugh, is the second sister duo to win in this category. The first was The Kinleys, which consisted of Heather and Jennifer Kinley. They won in 1998. (The Kinleys were identical twins. The sisters of Tigirlily Gold are about 2-1/2 years apart in age.)
Jessie Jo Dillon won songwriter of the year. She’s the third woman to win in that category, following Hillary Lindsey (a three-time winner) and Lori McKenna.” Dillon’s win was no surprise. She was nominated for songwriter of the year, non-classical at the Grammy Awards earlier this year.
Parker McCollum’s “Burn It Down” won visual media of the year. Two years ago, McCollum won ACM new male artist of the year.
The show was produced by Dick Clark Productions (DCP). DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
