FRISCO, TX (CelebrityAccess) — Alt-country icon Chris Stapleton took top honors at the 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday night, winning the award for ACM Entertainer of the Year.
The win was Stapleton’s first for the ACM’s top prize and his victory and his 15th overall career ACM Award, qualifies him for the ACM Triple Crown Award, which is open to artists who have won the New Female/Male Artist of the Year, Female/Male Artist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year.
Morgan Wallen took the prize for Male Artist of the Year and Lainey Wilson was named as the ACM’s Female Artist of the Year. She also collected awards for ACM Album of the Year, ACM Music Event of the Year, and ACM Visual Media of the Year, tying her for second place with Hardy, who also won four ACM Awards this year.
Hardy was named as ACM’s Artist-Songwriter of the Year, as well as ACM Visual Media of the Year, Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and Musical Event of the Year for his hit “Wait in the truck” with Lainey Wilson.
Old Dominion picked up the trophy for Group of the Year and the Brothers Osbourne were recognized as the ACM’s Duo of the Year for 2023.
The awards show, which took place at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas this year, was hosted by country legends Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton.
Performances included Keith Urban, who opened the show with a rendition of his hit “Texas Time” and Cole Swindell and Jo Dee Messina who teamed up for a take on rheir collab “She Had Me At Heads Carolina – REMIX” with karaoke lyrics displayed throughout the Ford Center encouraging the audience to join in.
Miranda Lambert performed her hit “Carousel,” and Luke Combs shared a poignant performance of his current radio single, “Love You Anyway.”
The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions, with Raj Kapoor, Barry Adelman, and Fonda Anita serving as executive producers, and Damon Whiteside serving as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. Patrick Menton is co-executive producer.
MAIN AWARDS:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
- Chris Stapleton
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Lainey Wilson
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Morgan Wallen
DUO OF THE YEAR
- Brothers Osborne
GROUP OF THE YEAR
- Old Dominion
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Hailey Whitters
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
- Zach Bryan
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: Broken Bow Records
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- She Had Me At Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell
Producer: Zach Crowell
Record Company-Label: Warner Music Nashville
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
- She Had Me At Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols
Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee; Be A Light Publishing; Colden Rainey Music; EMI Blackwood Music Inc; Songs Of Roc Nation Music; Sony Tree Publishing; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Universal Music Corp; WC Music Corp; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
- wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Producer: Inkwell Productions
Director: Justin Clough
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
- Ashley Gorley
ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
- HARDY
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt
Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records
