Chris Young is the top nominee for the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards with seven nods, including album and single of the year. Young shares three of his nominations with Kane Brown for their hit song “Famous Friends.”
Walker Hayes, Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton each received five nominations.
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The nominations, announced on Thursday (Feb. 10), include some history-makers. Lambert received her 16th consecutive nod for female artist of the year, which puts her in a tie with Reba McEntire for the most total nods in the category’s history. McEntire was nominated 16 times from 1983 to 2017.
Carrie Underwood and Lambert are both nominated for entertainer of the year. This marks the first time in eight years that two women have been nominated in this category in the same year. (Lambert and Taylor Swift were both 2013 nominees.)
Jimmie Allen is just the third Black artist to receive a nomination for male artist of the year. He follows Charley Pride, who received four consecutive nods from 1969-72, and Darius Rucker, who was nominated 12 years ago.
Morgan Wallen, who has been both red hot and a virtual pariah in the past year, especially at awards shows, received four nominations, including album of the year, song of the year and male artist of the year. Wallen was nominated for new male artist of the year two years ago, but wasn’t allowed to compete last year because of his videotaped use of a racial slur.
Allen and Gabby Barrett revealed this year’s ACM Award nominees on the ACM Awards Twitter. Allen and Barrett, the reigning ACM new male and new female artist of the year winners, respectively, received their first nominations for male and female artist of the year, respectively. The stars are set to co-host this year’s show with host Dolly Parton.
Ryan Hurd and Maren Morris are the first married couple to be nominated in the same year since Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in 2017. Hurd is nominated for new male artist of the year. Morris won new female artist of the year five years ago. Morris received her sixth consecutive nomination for female artist of the year.
Hayes’ crossover smash “Fancy Like” and Jordan Davis’ “Buy Dirt” (featuring Bryan) are both nominated for both single and song of the year. Josh Jenkins is a nominee for co-writing both songs.
Swift received her 32nd ACM nomination — and her first since 2018 — for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version).” The clip, which features Stapleton, is up for video of the year. Swift won in that category eight years ago with “Highway Don’t Care,” a collab with McGraw and Keith Urban. Actor Blake Lively is also nominated for producing and directing the clip.
Davis, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce, Underwood, and Wallen each received four nominations.
Jason Aldean, Brown, Luke Bryan, Dave Cobb, Ashley McBryde and Lainey Wilson each received three nods. Bryan, last year’s entertainer of the year, wasn’t even nominated in that category this year.
According to the ACM, women account for 37% of nominations, compared to an average of 35% in the past five years. Also, women make up 50% of the producers and directors in the video of the year nominations.
The ACM also notes that three openly LGBTQ+ people are nominated. T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne receives a nomination for duo of the year, Lily Rose receives a nomination for new female artist of the year, and Shane McAnally receives four nominations, including song of the year
Awards are voted on by members of the Academy of Country Music. The ACM reports that membership has increased by 12% in the past year, bringing the Academy’s total membership to more than 4,600 members.
The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards will stream live and without commercial interruption on Prime Video on March 7 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. (The show’s clever tag line is “a show so big, only a stadium can hold it.”) Tickets are currently on sale at Ticketmaster.
The ACM Awards will make history as the first major awards show to livestream exclusively. The show will also stream live on Prime Video in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K.
R.A. Clark is executive producer of the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards. Damon Whiteside is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.
Here’s the full list of ACM Awards nominees in the main categories. Billboard will report on the nominees for studio recording awards and industry awards in a separate piece.
Entertainer of the year
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Female artist of the year
Gabby Barrett
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Maren Morris
Carly Pearce
Male artist of the year
Jimmie Allen
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Duo of the year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
LOCASH
Maddie & Tae
Group of the year
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
The Cadillac Three
New female artist of the year
Tenille Arts
Priscilla Block
Lily Rose
Caitlyn Smith
Lainey Wilson
New male artist of the year
HARDY
Walker Hayes
Ryan Hurd
Parker McCollum
Elvie Shane
Album of the year
29: Written in Stone – Carly Pearce; producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Jimmy Robbins, Tony Brown; Big Machine Records
Country Again: Side A – Thomas Rhett, producers: Dann Huff, Jesse Frasure, Matt Dragstrem; Big Machine Label Group
Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen; producers: Joey Moi, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Matt Dragstrem, Dave Cohen; Big Loud Records / Republic Records
Famous Friends – Chris Young; producer: Mark Holman, Corey Crowder, Chris Young, Chris DeStefano; RCA Records Nashville
The Marfa Tapes – Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall; producers: Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall; Vanner Records / RCA Records Nashville
Single of the year
“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan; producer: Paul DiGiovanni; MCA Nashville
“Famous Friends” – Chris Young and Kane Brown; producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young; RCA Records Nashville
“Fancy Like” – Walker Hayes; producers: Walker Hayes, Shane McAnally, Joe Thibodeau; Monument Records
“If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood; producers: Michael Knox; Broken Bow Records; Macon Music, LLC; BBR Music Group, BMG
“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton; producer: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton; Mercury Nashville
Song of the year
“7 Summers” – Morgan Wallen; songwriters: Morgan Wallen, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally; publishers: Big Loud Mountain, Bo Wallace Publishing, Smackborne Music, Sony/ATV Accent, Smackstreet Music, Tempo Investments, Warner Geo Met Ric Music
“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan; songwriters: Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins; publishers: Anthem Music Publishing II, Bentprop Pub, Big Blue Nation Music, Combustion Five, Jentown, Jordan Davis Music, Smackwork Music, Smack Blue, Kobalt Music Group Music, Universal Music Corporation, WC Music Corp
“Fancy Like” – Walker Hayes; songwriters: Cameron Bartolini, Josh Jenkins, Shane Stevens, Walker Hayes; publishers: Songs of SMACK, Rarespark Media Group, Smackworks Music, Smack Blue, Kobalt Music Group, Holy Graffiti Music, Purplebeatz, WC Music Corp
“Knowing You” – Kenny Chesney; songwriters: Adam James, Brett James, Kat Higgins; publishers: 3 Ring Circus, BMG Platinum Songs, Pompano Run Music, Songs of Brett, WC Music Corp
“Things a Man Oughta Know” – Lainey Wilson; songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson; publishers: Sony/ATV Accent, Sony/ATV Countryside, Spirit Two Nashville, Super Big Music
Video of the year
“Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” – Elle King and Miranda Lambert; producers: Angie Lorenz, Wes Edwards, James Stratakis; directors: Alexa Kinigopoulos, Stephen Kinigopoulos
“Famous Friends” – Chris Young and Kane Brown; producer: Jennifer Ansell; director: Peter Zavadil
“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” – Taylor Swift featuring Chris Stapleton; producers: Jil Hardin, Blake Lively, Kathy Palmer, Austin Swift; director: Blake Lively
“If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood; producers: Christen Pinkston, Wesley Stebbins-Perry; director: Shaun Silva
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde; producer: Ryan Byrd ; director: Alexa Campbell
Songwriter of the year
Jesse Frasure
Nicolle Galyon
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Josh Osborne
Music event of the year
“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan; producer: Paul DiGiovanni; MCA Nashville
“Famous Friends” – Chris Young and Kane Brown, producers: Corey Crowder, Chris Young; RCA Records Nashville
“half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini featuring Kenny Chesney; producers: Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins, Kelsea Ballerini; Black River Entertainment
“If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood; producer: Michael Knox; Broken Bow Records; Macon Music, LLC; BBR Music Group, BMG
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde; producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne; Big Machine Label Group, Warner Music Nashville
The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC is a co-owner of Billboard through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC.