On Sunday, May 17, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, held around 16,000 people for the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards. The ceremony was led by first time host, country icon Shania Twain, who holds three ACM and six Grammys of her own.
Some notable awards throughout the night included, New Female/Male Artist of the Year, Music Event of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Group of the Year. “Demons in Your Choir” was performed live by The Red Clay Straws who later took home Group of The Year. Lainey Wilson opened the broadcast with a performance of her new single, “Can’t Sit Still” followed by performances by Miranda Lambert with “Crisco,” Dan+Shay gave a stunning rendition of “Say So,” and a series of other stellar performances.
One artist stole the show, winning every single award she was nominated for. Ella Langley won Artist-Songwriter of the Year, Music Event of the Year, Single of the Year, and Song of the Year. Winning 7 trophies allowed her to set the record for the most wins in a single year by a single artist. Her song “Choosin Texas” won both Single of the Year and Song of the Year. She wrote the song alongside Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick, and Joy Beth Taylor.
The song spent 10 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Also, it propelled Langley to become the first female artist to simultaneously top the charts of the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, and Country Airplay charts. She took top song of the year over other nominees, “A Song to Sing,” “Am I Okay?” “I Never Lie,” and “Somewhere Over Laredo,” who all have famous country artists behind them such as Meghan Morony and Laney Wilson. Sophomore Mary Kyriss said, “I really like “Chosin Texas” and I am really glad it won two awards.”
One of her biggest accomplishments at the ACM awards was winning Artist-Songwriter of the Year. She was nominated alongside Luke Combs. Riley Green, Morgan Wallen, and Meghan Moroney. This is extremely impressive because all of the other nominees have large fanbases and an established reputation within the country music industry.
After winning Female Artist of the Year, Langley took the stage but was lost for words. Through tears, she stated, “Thank you to the women in this category; to the women in this life. This is just a weird thing to do. Today I was having a strange day—I don’t know what it is about awards, but I have strange days in the mornings here—and I walked right into Lainey [Wilson’s] room, and I just got emotional, and she hugged me, wrapped me up, and started praying for me. And then all of a sudden, here comes Miranda Lambert in her little pink hat, and I would not be standing up here without the encouragement of so many women.” This acknowledgement of the women who have helped Langley reach her successes encourages other women to help and support each other.
Another artist took home multiple trophies, and that man is Cody Johnson. He won Male Artist of the Year as well as the world of country music’s most notable award, Entertainer of the Year. During his acceptance speech, rather than thanking his producers and team, he decided to honor Luke Combs, who was another nominee for the award. He retold a story of the pair being in Australia while Combs’ wife was in labor. He said that witnessing Luke Combs’ difficulty to be away from his family yet still getting up on stage for an extraordinary performance showed Johnson that he has credited his whole life to country music, and called him a “class act.” Sophomore Madeline Thorne mentioned, “This was such a special moment and I thought it was so thoughtful that Cody Johnson talked about Luke Combs like that.”
Overall, the night was a huge success for many artists and they cannot wait to see the winners for next year.
