A tie for entertainer of the year? Beautiful. Crazy.
There was a shocker at the end of the 55th ACM Awards, the first tie for entertainer of the year (or any major category, for that matter) in the show’s history. The co-winners were Carrie Underwood, winning in the category for the third time, and Thomas Rhett, winning in the category for the first time.
Swift is the first woman in ACM history to win entertainer of the year three times. She previously won the award in 2008-09. The only other female artist to win twice in the category is Taylor Swift, who took the prize in 2010-11.
Rhett won a second prize this year—video of the year for “Remember You Young.” That award was announced in the run-up to the show.
Underwood previously won female artist of the year three times (2006-08). Rhett won male artist of the year twice, in 2016 and 2018.
Several other artists made some history of their own. Take a look.
Luke Combs won two key awards—male artist of the year and album of the year for his sophomore album, What You See Is What You Get. The album is currently in its 28th week at No. 1 on Top Country Albums. These were Combs’ first wins in these categories.
Old Dominion also won two key awards—group of the year (for the third year in a row) and song of the year for “One Man Band.” Josh Osborne co-wrote the song with band members Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi.
Miranda Lambert’s all-female remake of Elvin Bishop‘s 1976 classic “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” became the first all-female recording to win music event of the year. The remake features Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack and Elle King. It was Lambert’s 35th ACM Award, which is more than any other artist in history.
Two participants in Lambert’s recording won second awards on their own. Morris took female artist of the year for the first time. Townes won new female artist of the year.
Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country” won for single of the year, just as it did at the CMA Awards on Nov. 13, 2019. It’s the first single to take top honors at both of these award shows since Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man” four years ago. It’s the 20th single to win single of the year at both shows. See story below.
Dan + Shay won duo of the year for the second year in a row. For those keeping score, the winners for group and duo of the year repeated from last year. The winners for male and female artist of the year were first-timers.
The ACM Awards are produced by dick clark productions, which is owned by MRC Media, the parent company of Billboard.
