The 60th annual ACM Awards, the longest-running country music awards show, is now scheduled for 2025. As previously announced, 16-time ACM Award-winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire is marking her 18th time at the helm, the most of any artist in Academy of Country Music history.
In the half-century since its inception, the Academy of Country Music® has grown from a regional Southern California trade organization to a national powerhouse with its sights set on a higher purpose: improving lives by connecting fans, artists, and the industry. Today, the ACM® is more dedicated than ever to promoting new artists, rising artists, and established superstars, while supporting the good work of charitable causes across the country through ACM Lifting Lives®.
The Academy was officially founded in 1964 in Los Angeles when performer Tommy Wiggins, songwriter Eddie Miller, and club owners Mickey and Chris Christensen joined with other artists, radio executives, and record labels to establish the Academy of Country and Western Music. Their vision was to promote country music in the 13 western states and support West Coast artists such as Billy Mize, Johnny Bond, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Buck Owens, Wynn Stewart, Jimmy Wakely, and Tex Williams. In 1965, an official Board of Directors was formed.
The Academy's "hat" trophy was created in 1968, the same year Fran Boyd was hired as the Academy's first paid employee. In the early 1970s, the organization changed its name from the Academy of Country and Western Music to the Academy of Country Music (ACM).
This year's nominees are:
Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!!
And you, do you have a preference for someone?
Let's talk about it in the comments section! 👇
