After much anticipation, the nominees for the 58th ACM Awards were announced on Thursday morning (April 13). There were some snubs and surprises, per usual.
HARDY and Lainey Wilson reign supreme as the artists with the most nominations. HARDY scored seven nods and Wilson earned six, thanks in large part to their #1 duet, “Wait in the Truck.”
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Wilson, Ashley McBryde, Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, and Miranda Lambert all received nominations for Album of the Year.
Lambert is the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year. To no surprise, she’s up for the award again this year. She also scored nominations for Female Artist of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year.
The 2023 ACM Awards nominees are getting unveiled.https://t.co/HY0wxx63dh
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) April 13, 2023
But what DID come as a surprise is the fact that the ACM changed the Entertainer of the Year category this year.
Historically, five artists are nominated for Entertainer of the Year. Such was the case when it was first awarded in 1970. It remained that way until 2009, when the ACM extended the category to allow for eight nominees. Carrie Underwood won the award that year.
The category then had six nominees in 2010. Underwood also won that year.
Five artists have been nominated in the category ever since. But that all changed when the ACM announced the nominees for 2023.
This year, seven artists are nominated for Entertainer of the Year. They are…
- Jason Aldean
- Luke Combs
- Miranda Lambert
- Chris Stapleton
- Carrie Underwood
- Kane Brown
- Morgan Wallen
Wallen and Brown are both first-time nominees in the category. Although Stapleton and Combs have been nominated before, they have not won.
Aldean won the award three times in a row from 2016-2018. Underwood has also won the award three times (in 2009, 2010, and 2020). Lambert scored her first win in the category last year (2022).
See the ACM’s announcement about this year’s Entertainer of the Year nominees below. Which artist are you rooting for?
You can find out who wins when the ACM Awards air on May 11.