ACM Awards
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From the red carpet fashion to the emotional acceptance speeches, this year’s ACM Awards were full of memorable moments. But the highlight of the show was arguably the star-studded lineup of performances, from Dua Lipa‘s surprise cameo with Chris Stapleton to host Reba McEntire‘s blazing closing number. Lainey Wilson opened the show — which was […]
As a dad of three, Shay Mooney has had well over 10,000 hours of practice at fatherhood. And in an interview with Billboard on the Winner’s Walk carpet at the 2024 ACM Awards Thursday (May 16), the Dan + Shay band member passed on a little bit of sage advice to one of the duo’s past collaborators: Justin Bieber, who recently announced that he and Hailey Bieber are expecting their first child.
“You gotta learn as you go, you obviously pick things up as you go,” said Mooney, who shares sons Asher, Ames and Abram with wife Hannah Billingsley. “Justin, if you’re watching this, you’re gonna do just fine. You’re a good man.”
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“It’s gonna be awesome, I’m excited for them,” the singer added of his and bandmate Dan Smyers’ “10,000 Hours” duet partner. “It’s a new journey, and they have a lot of great people around them. I’m proud of him.”
The awards show — where Dan + Shay won the prize for duo of the year — comes just over a week after the Biebers revealed that they’re expanding their family. Hailey debuted her baby bump with the “Peaches” singer in photos taken at what appeared to be a vow renewal ceremony, posted by the Rhode founder on Instagram May 9.
Since then, the model has shared more photos of her bump and revealed her biggest pregnancy craving so far: pickles topped with egg salad and hot sauce. “No, you’re not allowed to judge!!” she wrote on Instagram Stories earlier this week, sharing a photo of the concoction.
Mooney and Smyers are currently closing out their first season on The Voice. They pair make up the first-ever coaching duo on the show, where they serve on the panel alongside Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper.
“I’ve enjoyed genuinely getting to work with the artists, really digging in,” Smyers told Billboard of their time on the series. “There’s so much thought that goes into the songs. Trying to give those artists their best shot, ’cause that’s an amazing moment for them.”
Chris Stapleton took home four awards at the 2024 ACM Awards Thursday night (May 16), but he may as well have won a fifth: best-kept secret, which he unofficially earned for his surprise duet with Dua Lipa during the ceremony.
Viewers were shocked to see the pop star take the stage with the country crooner at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, with the pair teaming up for a reimagined version of his “Think I’m in Love With You” midway through the show. (Sources onsite told Billboard that the pair is planning to release a collaboration together in the future, but neither musician has publicly confirmed the news.)
After the performance, Stapleton revealed on the Winner’s Walk carpet that he was almost equally surprised to see the duet materialize, telling Billboard‘s Melinda Newman that it came together in as little as two days.
“[Lipa] contacted the ACMs, and the ACMs contacted us,” he said, noting the “Houdini” singer’s dedication to making the partnership happen. “She’s very busy promoting her own record [Radical Optimism] right now. We kind of created this thing together in the last two days.”
Lipa also opened up to Billboard about the performance after the show, which was produced by Dick Clark Productions. “Lots of zip-up hoodies and running in and out of the arena [were involved],” she told reporter Lyndsey Havens of how she kept her appearance under wraps. “We were all so in on making sure that this stays a surprise to make the moment even more special. I don’t know how we did it, I’m glad we did it because it’s really special when it happened tonight on stage.”
In addition to performing, Stapleton also won male artist of the year, artist-songwriter of the year and album of the year for his 2023 record Higher at the ACMs. When Billboard asked him and his wife/collaborator Morgane which pop artist the country star would like to work with next, he replied, “I’d always say someone like Paul McCartney.”
He then added, “Harry Styles. [Morgane has] mentioned [him] a few times.”
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.
The year just keeps getting better for Jelly Roll. The “Son of a Sinner” singer added another notch to his gilded belt on Thursday night (May 16) at the 2024 ACM Awards when he shared the music event of the year prize with Lainey Wilson at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
“First time nominated, first award and it couldn’t have happened for a more meaningful song,” Jelly Roll said of his win for “Save Me” with Wilson at the show produced by Dick Clark Productions. Speaking to Billboard after the event, Jelly said he decided to add Wilson to the song after he recorded it solo because he wanted to “hear it from a woman’s point of view.”
As an example of why that was definitely the right call, he said his stylist told him she listened to the track “1,000 times and loved it,” but when she heard the version with Wilson she cried because, as she told him, “it felt like it was one of us singing it. I was like, ‘WOW,’ it just covered me in chills. I knew then that it was going to be a special song.”
Jelly said he had a premonition that Wilson was going to be the biggest star on the planet, but after the breakout year she’s had, he thought, “What a great year for me to have a song with her!”
While Jelly Roll has been at the game for a while before his big blowup began taking hold over the last 24 months, he said he and pal Wilson talk all the time about the wild rocket ride of fame they’ve both been on lately and love to share notes and advice. “It’s been so awesome. We’ve been so paralleled and everything. We talk about it openly and honestly,” he said of the small group of fellow artists — which also includes Cody Johnson — that he huddles with to “lay it all on the table.”
In the midst of a red-hot streak that has had anyone and everyone knocking on his door for a collaboration, Jelly Roll had no problem naming the one call that wowed and delighted him the most. “Whenever I got the call to do the MusiCares with Jon Bon Jovi and then I met Sir Paul McCartney at the same time,” he said of the February gala honoring the Bon Jovi founder at which the country star performed a gritty cover of the Jersey rockers’ “Bad Medicine.”
“There’s a picture that exists on the Earth of me meeting Sir Paul McCartney and Jon Bon Jovi at the same time… that was the one that was like, ‘get out of here man!,’” he joked about the pic he keeps sending around to friends and swearing is not a PhotoShop job. Now that he’s been awarded for his Wilson collab, Jelly Roll said the next duet partner on his bucket list is definitely Jersey giant Bon Jovi. Or James Taylor, or Bob Seger.
Watch Jelly Roll talk about his big night and his pinch-me photo op above.
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.
Dua Lipa‘s surprise performance with Chris Stapleton at Thursday night’s (May 16) 2024 ACM Awards required some seriously stealth maneuvers. The “Training Season” singer took the stage to debut a new duet with Stapleton at the awards show at Ford Theater at the Star in Frisco, Texas and afterwards she talked to Billboard about how they pulled off the high-profile musical sneak attack.
“Lots of zip-up hoodies and running in and out of the arena,” she said of the lengths the two singer’s teams went to in keeping the secret under wraps. “We were all so in on making sure that this stays a surprise to make the moment even more special. I don’t know how we did it, I’m glad we did it because it’s really special when it happened tonight on stage.”
Stapleton won the artist of the year and album award at the 59th annual ACMs, but it was when he performed his song “Thing I’m in Love With You” with Dua — and his wife Morgane — that the audience at the Ford Theater sat up in their seats watching the two singers from different musical words meld their universes.
Dua said she was inspired to attend the ACMs and perform with Stapleton because she’s a “massive fan” of the singer she called a “master of his craft.” She also enjoyed sitting down with Stapleton to brainstorm how they could reimagine the song from his Higher album. “To even just spend a few days with him working with him, and his band and with his wife Morgane as well, it’s just been absolutely incredible. It’s just one of those moments in my life where i’m so happy to be a musician and to be creating something and doing something that feels so exciting,” she said.
At press time, reps for both singers had not responded to Billboard‘s request for comment about news that they plan to release the collaboration soon.
Lipa was also excited to see fellow pop-to-country crossover star Post Malone performing at Thursday’s event, but the thing that she was most psyched about was her new album, Radical Optimism, debuting at the peak of the Top Album Sales chart.
Dua said she celebrated the long-gestating album’s release at home with friends and family with food, drinks and music. And, because she was in Texas, she had to try some local bbq as well, of course. “That and going on a hunt for the best cowboy hat,” she said of her Lone Star state adventures.
Watch Dua Lipa talk about the surprise performance and her album’s chart debut in the video above.
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 […]
Many of the awards at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards, which were presented on Thursday (May 16) at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, went as expected. Lainey Wilson’s second consecutive win as female artist of the year was a foregone conclusion. Old Dominion’s seventh consecutive win as group of the […]
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.
Reba McEntire brought the house down — and almost burnt it down, too — with the final performance of the night at the 2024 ACM Awards Thursday night (May 16), singing a blazing rendition of her new single “I Can’t.” Joined by a stunning choir of gospel singers, the 69-year-old singer — who also served […]
Nate Smith brought his latest hit, “Bulletproof,” the 2024 ACM Awards stage on Thursday night (May 16), calling on Avril Lavigne to join him on the live debut of their remix. “Been takin’ these shots, shots, shots/ 80, 90, everything they’ve got/ But the whiskey don’t kill like it’s supposed to do/ Baby, your memory […]