Academy of Country Music
One week before the Country Music Association Awards are set to take place in Nashville, the Academy of Country Music announced the submissions and ballot timeline for the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards, which are set to take place on May 8, 2025.
The ACM Awards will stream exclusively on Prime Video for the fourth straight year. They will be held at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, for a third straight year and be hosted by Reba McEntire for a second straight year.
This will be the 18th time McEntire has hosted or co-hosted the ACM Awards. She first co-hosted the show in 1986 with John Schneider and the late Mac Davis. McEntire is fast closing in on Bob Hope’s record as the most frequent host of any major awards show. Hope hosted or co-hosted the Oscars 19 times between 1940 and 1978.
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The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions. The awards are voted on by ACM members. The window to become a member or renew membership, which opened on Oct. 1, closes Friday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. CT. Prospective voters can submit an application for ACM membership online at www.acmcountry.com/membership.
The eligibility period for the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards is Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2024. The submissions period, for both the ACM Awards and the ACM Radio Awards, opens Jan. 6, 2025 and closes Jan. 17, 2025.
Here are other key dates for Academy professional members for the ACM Awards and ACM Radio Awards.
ACM Awards
First round voting: Feb. 10, 2025 – Feb. 18, 2025
Second round voting: March 10, 2025 – March 17, 2025
Final round voting: March 31, 2025 – April 7, 2025
ACM Radio Awards
First round voting: Feb. 10, 2025 – Feb. 24, 2025
Final round voting: March 10, 2025 – March 24, 2025
As Nashville session A-lister Rob McNelley releases a hooky piece of power-pop, “Right Back to You,” on June 28, the karma-themed song represents a full-circle moment that provides a clue to his Music City ascendance.
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McNelley moved to Tennessee from Columbia, Ohio, in 1995 to pursue life as a writer-artist, and the recording captures a raw, angsty voice that few people know about — because he never quite attained his original goal. Instead, he became a high-level guitarist, whose work is likely heard multiple times an hour on most commercial country radio stations. McNelley has appeared on singles by Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Luke Bryan, Jelly Roll, Jon Pardi and Parker McCollum, and the Academy of Country Music named him electric guitar player of the year on June 17. He’ll collect his trophy, his fourth ACM guitar award, during the ACM Honors on Aug. 21 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
“Right Back to You” is the first of a series of new releases he is plotting during 2024 as a frontman, and it’s a return to the artistic view that guided his rise when he became a studio player. Music listeners tend to absorb the song and recall it through the voice of its singer — after all, people don’t often sing keyboard parts in the shower. Thus, McNelley’s role as a lead singer helped him know how to approach the role of a lead guitarist.
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“That kind of informed me a little bit about how you’ve got to be simple while they sing,” he says. “That [melody] should be the most important thing that people hear at that moment. There are plenty of other players I know that have never sang a song in their life that know how to do that. But I don’t know what their process would be like. I do feel like that was a huge benefit for me to have come up being in bands, writing songs, trying to get other musicians to do what was in my head.”
McNelley is so tuned in to that concept that producer Dann Huff (Brantley Gilbert, Keith Urban) recently challenged him to break the rules a bit and play over the singer on a song that needed some tension and a little sonic war. McNelley has solid rock credentials — he played for about seven years during the last decade in Bob Seger’s touring band — so he was able to give Huff exactly what he wanted.
“He’s got a punk side to him, which is phenomenal, which he’s never lost,” Huff says.
It fits his history. McNelley was born the son of Bob McNelley, the frontman for country-rock band McGuffey Lane, which landed four titles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in the 1980s during a run with two Atlantic-affiliated imprints. The band partied hard, and plenty of musicians hung out at the McNelley household, teaching him the guitar almost by osmosis.
“I didn’t take lessons,” McNelley says. “I was just around all these musicians that would show me things — show me a chord here or there, or show me a little lick or a riff or whatever. I’d run off to my bedroom and do nothing but that for hours.”
His father died from an apparent suicide when McNelley was 17, but he left his son with an intense appreciation for music, particularly musicians whose expression was fairly lean — McNelley cites George Harrison, Muddy Waters, Keith Richards and Chuck Berry as primary influences.
Once he moved to Nashville in his late 20s, McNelley hit the road with a parade of bands and worked on his writing and vocal performance skills. But the guitar work set him apart among the music community’s decision-makers. His breakthrough came when he was hired for the early Lady A albums by producer Paul Worley, who rose through the ranks as a studio guitarist — and, coincidentally, produced some of the McGuffey Lane records in the ’80s. Worley showcased McNelley’s melodic tendencies and encouraged him to play succinctly.
“He was great at paring down the ideas that I would come in with that would be too much, you know, as a younger, inexperienced person,” says McNelley. “He was really good at saying, ‘Well, this is all great that you can do all that, but this little part of the idea is the essence of what you’re doing,’ and getting me to think along the lines of simpler tones that cut through a track, simpler ideas that really stand up.”
He piled up credits with Brett Young, Carrie Underwood, Carly Pearce, Corey Kent, Thomas Rhett, Tyler Hubbard and Rascal Flatts, just to name a few. Because of his history as a vocalist, McNelley understood the artists’ viewpoint and gained their confidence as he expanded his résumé.
“He always shows up ready to rock, ready to do whatever each song needs,” Brian Kelley says. “He’s got great feel, a great ear, a great country music history, knowledge of what tones can work and how to place a solo to make something sound full.”
McNelley’s current ACM victory is his first for electric guitar player of the year. His three prior wins — in 2013, 2017 and 2019 — came when the organization lumped acoustic and electric musicians in the same category. The ACM split that field in 2021.
Despite that change, this year’s win was similar to the previous three. After the initial nomination, he forgot about it until people he hadn’t heard from in months bombarded him with text messages during a session. What separates this year’s honor most is that the sideman recognition comes as McNelley begins rolling out new music as a lead artist. That project allows him to get back in touch with his original motivations, though he has no regrets about the path he has taken.
“When I started accepting gigs that took me on tour, I probably realized what people recognize, and what jumps out, is my guitar playing,” he says. “I love to do that just as much. I love being a sideman.”
When Reba McEntire watched last year’s ACM Awards and saw her buddies and fellow country icons Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks co-hosting the show and leading the festivities, she knew she wanted to join in again on the ACMs fun.
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“They were so great, I was like, ‘I want to do that again!,’” McEntire told Billboard, just days before it was announced that McEntire will host the Academy of Country Music Awards for a 17th time on May 16, when the 59th annual awards show streams on Amazon Prime Video, returning to the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
“I was really anxious to get back on the stage,” she said. “Going back to Texas is always good for me — because that’s close to home, southeastern Oklahoma.”
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The ACMs, which launched in 1966, has highlighted country music’s biggest stars for nearly six decades. But the awards show’s team is still intent on breaking new ground: In 2022, the ACM Awards made history by becoming the first major music awards show to exclusively livestream when it shifted from CBS to Amazon Prime Video.
McEntire, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has 16 ACM Awards trophies to her credit, and nine ACM entertainer of the year nominations. She won the entertainer of the year accolade in 1994, and holds the most nominations for female artist of the year.
She says promoting new music and spending time with industry friends — as well as making new ones — are always big draws for taking part in the awards show ceremony.
“You get to go have fun with all your friends and buddies that you’ve gotten to know over the last 45, 50 years in the business and meet new people,” she said. “It’s the best place to get to meet the new artists, and that’s what I really enjoy getting to do. The last time I was at an awards show, it was Lainey Wilson. I got to hang out with her a bit, and Jelly Roll. Meeting new people and making new friends is what I love about the business.”
Having hosted a previous 16 ACM Awards ceremonies when the show was held in Las Vegas and various cities in California, McEntire knows well the work involved in preparing for hosting — from working with trusted writers to create and refine dialogue used for the evening, to balancing multiple outfit changes (McEntire says this year’s fashion theme will lean “a little more tough, sexy cowgirl”). She easily summarizes the essentials to being a great awards show host: “Keep it interesting, keep it running smoothly and show up. Be on time, be prepared.”
Of course, with live television, anything can happen. McEntire recalled how at the 2004 ACM Awards, producer Dick Clark assisted her in filling a time delay after performer Keith Urban’s guitar had been lost backstage.
“Dick was like, ‘Get out there and stall,’” she said. “I panicked. I mean, I got booed offstage in 1978 for telling jokes because I only had three songs to sing, so I think I have flashbacks of that when somebody says, ‘Get out there and wing it.’ I’m not [actor/comedian] Melissa Peterman — I cannot do that. So, Dick had to come out and help with it, and we got through it.”
Over the years, she’s learned a few key strategies for filling in any gaps.
“If anything does happen, they don’t have to depend on me to fill the space,” she said, “I’m going to have everybody mapped out in the audience that I will take a microphone down to, and they will be the ones to bridge the gap. There’s a lot of interesting characters in a country music industry party, so I will be making my rounds down into the audience.”
Through leading the ACM Awards more than a dozen times, McEntire has hosted in various configurations — both solo and co-hosting alongside artists including George Strait, Blake Shelton, Alan Jackson and John Schneider. Still, she does have a couple of bucket list people she would love to co-host with — including her beau, Rex Linn.
“I’d love to co-host with Rex. Rex is the biggest fan of music,” she said. “He and Melissa Peterman are two people who love music more than anybody. Boy, that would be fun. Melissa, Rex and me — the three of us hosting it? That would be a hoot. I would just sit back and have an iced tea and let them do all the work,” she quipped.
In addition to hosting, McEntire has over the years been responsible for some of the ACM Awards’ most prestigious and memorable performances, such as in 2007, when she performed “Because of You” alongside Kelly Clarkson. This year, McEntire will also perform her new single, “I Can’t,” which she called “a very strong woman’s song about standing up for herself.”
And yes — a new album is in the works, she says. McEntire worked on the project with producer Dave Cobb, who also worked on her 2021 album Reba: Revived Remixed Revisited.
“We’ve been working on it for over a year now, so not sure when it will be released, but I’m very proud of it,” McEntire said. “We wanted to do something a little more laid-back, with not so many instruments on it. But by the time we got more involved with it, we started putting more instruments back in and making it to where we like it.”
Ever a passionate music fan herself, McEntire says one of the projects she’s been listening to lately is Lauren Daigle’s Look Up Child. “I was listening to her album the other day. I love her singing and I got to sing ‘Back to God’ with her on the ACMs years ago — that was one of the highlights.”
McEntire added, “The ACMs have been very good to me, and the collaborations I’ve gotten to do, not only singing but hosting, have been very memorable.”
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Dear Industry Leaders,
Last year, the Black Music Action Coalition and the Academy of Country Music joined together to launch OnRamp, a new initiative designed to create economic empowerment and access to the music industry for young Black creatives and industry executives, giving them a year of guaranteed income and a menu of mentorship services from music industry leaders.
Following the success of the OnRamp program, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has united with the BMAC to continue this important work and support both young female and Black creatives and industry professionals in search of careers as musicians, songwriters, producers and executives.The program assists young creatives with basic needs such as rent, utilities and food, as well as opens the door for previously challenging activities such as studio time, travel for shows or networking opportunities, marketing and even legal services. It also provides mentorship focused on improving inclusivity and equity within music and empowering the next generation of leaders in the early stages of their careers by granting access to professional development opportunities, mentorship and industry exposure. The BMAC will facilitate the program as well as document and track the artists’ and young professionals’ journeys as they share their stories of success and triumph from the year of empowerment.
After reviewing applications in 2023, the BMAC has selected 20 female and Black emerging creatives for the program. We are currently fundraising in order to begin the program during Black Music Month in June.
As we are all very aware of the incredible contributions female and Black creatives continue to make to the growth of our industry, we see the BMAC Music Maker Guaranteed Income and Mentorship Program as a valuable long-term partner that will provide a structured system that will open doors and train the next generation of creatives and executives in the music industry. We ask that you become an inaugural partner with us on this important initiative so that we can create the true scale needed to open the doors to the future creators and leaders in our industry.
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As part of Grammy Week 2024, BMAC co-founder and president/CEO Willie “Prophet” Stiggers hosted John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation; Michael Tubbs, founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income; Maura Cuffie-Peterson, director of strategic initiatives for guaranteed income for Creatives Rebuild New York; and Billboard editorial director Hannah Karp for an economic justice summit at UTA to galvanize the music industry to take action.
We now look to our industry and partners to donate to this initiative. We would be so grateful for your support.
WILLIE “PROPHET” STIGGERS, Co-founder and president/CEO Black Music Action Coalition
HANNAH KARP, Editorial director Billboard
JOHN SYKES, Chairman Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation
IRVING AZOFF, Chairman/CEO The Azoff Company
ROB LIGHT, Managing partner/ head of worldwide music CAA
To support this program, please visit bmacoalition.org/halloffame.
This story originally appeared in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Fran Boyd, former executive director of the Academy of Country Music, died March 9 at 84.
Boyd played a key role in shaping and advancing the ACM from its early years in California in the late 1960s, through the start of the millennium.
Boyd joined the ACM as an executive secretary in 1968, as the organization’s first paid employee. She rose through the ranks over the years; in 1995, following the passing of her husband Bill, who himself led the Academy, Fran was named executive director. Boyd oversaw year-round operations and also served as talent producer for the ACM Awards, and oversaw nearly every aspect of the annual awards presentation.
The ACM Awards’ signature “hat” trophy was created the same year Boyd joined the ACM. Among the winners that year were Glen Campbell, Lynn Anderson and Bobbie Gentry.
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During her tenure, Boyd saw the organization open its first office in Hollywood, and rebrand its name from the Academy of Country and Western Music to the Academy of Country Music in the 1970s. During her time at the ACM, the organization also moved the awards show to major California venues including Disneyland, Universal Amphitheatre and Knott’s Berry Farm.
Boyd retired from the ACM in 2002, after more than three decades of service. She said at the time, “I continue to be proud of all the Academy of Country Music has accomplished in my time. It has given me great joy to see so many young country artists rise from newcomers to having great careers. The Academy has helped music fans acknowledge country music as the enduring genre it deserves to be.”
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“Her tireless work and years of dedication to this organization, the country music industry and its artists cannot be overstated, and her legacy with the Academy will forever live on,” Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music, said in a statement.
“Fran Boyd played an essential part in the Academy’s history, stretching way back to the earliest days in the 1960s and steering the ship through decades of change, innovation, and growth, all while fostering an incredible passion for country music,” added Gayle Holcomb, ACM Board Sergeant-At-Arms and longtime board member. “Fran will always be remembered as a champion for our industry, its artists, and this organization. On behalf of the ACM Officers and Board of Directors, I send our gratitude, prayers, and condolences to the Boyd family.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Alive Hospice Nashville or the Alzheimer’s Association in Boyd’s honor.
The Academy of Country Music has added Gil Beverly to its leadership team, as executive vp and chief business officer. Beverly joins the Academy following more than four years with the Tennessee Titans, where he served as the NFL team’s chief marketing and revenue officer.
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In his new role Beverly will supervise and manage the Academy’s business operations and manage all revenue streams, as well as play a key role in shaping the Academy’s growth strategy by identifying and evaluating business opportunities, and will work with the CEO to oversee and manage staff, all while supporting the Academy’s mission of connecting the industry, artists and fans.
During Beverly’s time with the Nashville-based Titans, he helped revitalize the team’s brand through lifestyle marketing and activations in music, art, fashion and fitness, as well as advertising and social media campaigns. Beverly also served as executive project lead for the preliminary stages of the new Titans stadium plan.
Prior to joining the Titans organization, Beverly served as vp of partnership solutions at Learfield Sports in Plano, Texas, after a 13-year stint at ESPN, where he oversaw the go-to-market strategy for multimedia sales and sponsorships for the launch of the College Football Playoff as vp of college sports marketing.
“Gil Beverly is a proven leader who has ushered in new levels of success for numerous category-leading organizations, and we can’t wait to tap his exceptional expertise, passion, and drive at the Academy of Country Music to help us continue to innovate, grow, and succeed, particularly as we look ahead to our landmark 60th anniversary awards show celebration in 2025,” Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music, said in a statement. “In his role, he will play an integral part in shaping the future of the Academy from financial, strategic, and organizational standpoints, and Gil exemplifies all the traits that power the ACM to reach new heights and support our industry. On behalf of our Board of Directors and Officers, as well as our Members and staff, I couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to team ACM!”
“I am extremely honored and excited to join Damon Whiteside and his team at the Academy of Country Music,” Beverly added. “The Academy has proven to be a visionary organization through its premium content and events and groundbreaking partnerships with Amazon and the Dallas Cowboys, among others. I believe the organization is poised for significant growth and will continue to be a powerful leader in the music industry in the future.”
“The Official ACM Awards Red Carpet Show – hosted by Amber Anderson, Priscilla Block, BRELAND, Elaina Smith, and Kelly Sutton – is streaming live here on Thursday, May 11 at 7pm ET I 4pm PT. This year’s top ACM Awards nominees include HARDY, Lainey Wilson, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Cole Swindell. The […]
As the Academy of Country Music Awards gear to up head to the Lone Star State this year, several country music artists and supporters are sharing their personal definitions of country music.
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Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, Trixie Mattel, Breland, Lainey Wilson and more have teamed up for an ACM Awards pre-show campaign, “What Country Music Means to Me,” which celebrates the breadth and international scope of the genre’s reach.
Lambert, a 38-time ACM Award winner and Texas native, says in the video, “Country music makes me happy. It’s just my roots. It’s what I loved the most about the music I grew up on and that’s why I love making that kind of music.”
“Country music to me is the sound of home,” says Nigerian-American singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun, who was nominated for emerging act of the year at the 2021 Americana Music Honors & Awards. “In Nigeria, country music has this huge following because it’s a rural country. The sounds of guitars and singing about working and care and love and family is really familiar. To me, listening to country music doesn’t just sound like this small town, it sounds like this country in Africa miles away.”
“Country music is a lifestyle,” Twain says. “Country music was always this huge influence on how I write very statement lyrics.”
Drag queen, television personality and singer-songwriter Mattel adds, “If you like fake hair and sequins, country music is for you.”
Meanwhile, Nashville native and Dodgers player Mookie Betts shares, “As a Nashville native, country music has been a huge part of my life. I grew up around it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to really appreciate it and get into it.”
The 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards will be held May 11 in Frisco, Texas, airing on Amazon’s Prime Video. This year, Dolly Parton returns to co-host the ACM Awards along with first-time host Garth Brooks.
See the video for the ACM Awards’ “What Country Means to Me” campaign below:
Morgan Wallen will headline an all-star benefit concert for ACM Lifting Lives during ACM Awards week in May. ACM Lifting Lives LIVE: Morgan Wallen & Friends, Presented by VGT by Aristocrat Gaming, will be held Wednesday, May 10, on the golfing green at Topgolf The Colony.
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The show will take place a day prior to the 58th annual ACM Awards show on Thursday, May 11, set to be held at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Joining Wallen will be reigning ACM new female artist and song of the year winner Lainey Wilson, “Rock and a Hard Place” hitmaker Bailey Zimmerman, and Wallen’s Big Loud Records labelmates HARDY and ERNEST. Also on the bill is DJ 13lackbeard.
Just prior to the benefit concert, ACM Lifting Lives will welcome the return of Topgolf Tee-Off and Rock On Fundraiser at Topgolf The Colony.
General Admission tickets on the green are separate from the Topgolf Tee-Off and Rock On tournament access and will be available to ACM Members, ACM A-List subscribers, 58th ACM Awards ticket holders, and Topgolf Friends and Family through an exclusive presale, which launched Thursday (March 23). Remaining tickets will be available for a general public on-sale beginning this Friday, March 24 at 10 a.m. CST through AXS. Those who have purchased bays for golf will be able to remain in their bay for the concert, with the bay serving as a suite to watch the show.
“ACM Lifting Lives does great work providing aid in times of need to folks inside and outside of the music industry,” Wallen said via a statement. “My band and I are excited to help them raise funds to continue doing this amazing work.”
“The support of Country Music artists and the industry as a whole are who make the impactful work of ACM Lifting Lives possible,” added ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director Lyndsay Cruz. “We are so thankful to Morgan, HARDY, Lainey, ERNEST, Bailey and DJ 13lackbeard for volunteering their time to help us raise money and awareness, and we know music fans in Texas will be blown away by this all-star lineup!”
In addition to distributing more than $4 million to date through its Covid Relief Fund, ACM Lifting Lives provides critical support through the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund, significant annual commitments to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Music Health Alliance, and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, and individual grants to organizations that reach communities all across America.
The ACM Awards will air live on May 11, exclusively via Prime Video.
Wallen recently broke the record for the most songs simultaneously charted on the Billboard Hot 100, entering 36 songs on the chart on the survey dated March 18, marking the entirety of his new album, One Thing At a Time. The album also marks a second week at the pinnacle of the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart.
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