The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards took place on Sunday, April 7, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Music icon Reba McEntire hosted the three-hour ceremony, which aired live on CBS. This was her 16th time emceeing the ACMs, and the ravishing redhead looked gorgeous during the opening monologue in a silver sequin dress — just one of the seven ensembles she would wear throughout the night. McEntire joked about how Vegas recently received snow, saying that must be the reason why women were frozen out of the Entertainer of the Year category.
As far as performances go, Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean opened up the show with “Can’t Hide Red.” Thomas Rhett sang “Look What God Gave Her,” and Miranda Lambert — wearing a sassy black sequin jumpsuit — did a medley of her hits “Kerosene,” “Gunpowder & Lead,” “Mama’s Broken Heart,” “White Liar,” and “Little Red Wagon.” Luke Bryan did the sexy “Knockin’ Boots,” Chris Stapleton sang “A Simple Song,” and New Female Artist of the Year Ashley McBryde performed “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.”
A very tan Maren Morris — wearing a super long blonde wig and sporting a matching tube top, short-shorts, and cowboy boots in light blue with silver fringes — sang “All My Favorite People” along with Brothers Osborne; and Carrie Underwood returned to the stage after giving birth to her second child in January to perform “Southbound,” which started outdoors by the hotel’s pool and featured a walk through the audience — with a quick stop to kiss her husband, Mike Fisher — to the main stage indoors.
. @CarrieUnderwood just brought a Las Vegas pool party to the #ACMawards . Y’all getting a little “Southbound”? pic.twitter.com/AJPyGiMJ3h
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) April 8, 2019
Other performance highlights included Kelly Clarkson teaming up with Dan + Shay for “Keeping Score”; Little Big Town bringing the audience to tears with “The Daughters”; Keith Urban playing his brand-new tune, “Burden”; and This is Us star Chrissy Metz making her live singing debut with a rendition of “I’m Standing with You” from her upcoming movie Breakthrough .
Clint Black, Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Jessie James Decker, Cole Swindell, Jimmie Allen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Dennis Quaid, Beth Behrs, Jay Hernandez, Wilmer Valderrama, Melissa Peterman, and Nancy O’Dell were just some of the celebrities who served as presenters.
And just who went home with an ACM trophy? Dan + Shay were the night’s big winners, taking home three of the six awards that they were nominated for, and Kacey Musgraves won two awards. Meanwhile, Jason Aldean won the special ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award, which has only been handed out five other times — to Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988, Garth Brooks in 1998, and George Strait in 2009.
Below is the complete list of winners at the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards (some of which were not handed out during the TV telecast).
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR Keith Urban
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Kacey Musgraves
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Thomas Rhett
Look what God gave us… @thomasrhett and @laur_akins ! ? #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/Co9gQPMEiA
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) April 7, 2019
DUO OF THE YEAR Dan + Shay
GROUP OF THE YEAR Old Dominion
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Ashley McBryde
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Luke Combs
NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR LANCO
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Golden Hour , Kacey Musgraves
Welcome to @DanAndShay ‘s excellent adventure! #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/8qWD1sMQdQ
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) April 8, 2019
SINGLE OF THE YEAR “Tequila,” Dan + Shay
SONG OF THE YEAR “Tequila,” Dan + Shay
VIDEO OF THE YEAR “Drunk Girl,” Chris Janson
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR Shane McAnally
MUSIC EVENT OF THE “Burning Man,” Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne
Our amazing #ACMawards host, @Reba ! All hail the queen! ? pic.twitter.com/GC3JcdVMZg
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) April 7, 2019
