What To Expect from the 2020 ACM Awards

Remember, it’s just the ACM Awards. Less prestigious than the CMAs, and more susceptible to bloc voting and other dubious practices than most any other awards apparatus in country music and beyond, think of it more as a performative infomercial for the mainstream of country music as opposed to the rightful awarding of talent and accomplishment.
But the winners and nominees, and what transpires for three hours on CBS Wednesday night (9/16) hosted by Keith Urban will be etched down in the country music history books. So fair or not, it does hold some importance. Saving Country Music will be offering its observations and spirited dissent throughout the presentation in a LIVE BLOG during the presentation if you choose to tune in. And in the meantime, here is some of what you can expect.
These awards were supposed to be handed out in April. Since there’s a 5-month lag and the winners were voted on half a year ago, you have to calibrate your perspective a little bit to the prospects of the nominees. For example, the New Male Artist of the Year ended up being Riley Green (it was already handed out out August 20th). But if the awards had been voted on last month, you would have likely seen Morgan Wallen win with the run he’s been on over the last few months.
The awards will take place in three separate venues. Instead of being in Las Vegas per normal, the ACMs are in Nashville, and performances will be split between the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium, and The Bluebird Cafe (see all performances below). There will presumably be little or no audience at these locations, and you can expect more intimate performances than normal.
Taylor Swift will be performing her song “Betty.” Look, every year the ACMs bring in an artist outside of country music to try and entice viewers from beyond the country fold to tune in. This time it’s a performer that is distinctly pop, but with a long history in country and with the ACMs (Taylor’s a 2-time Entertainer of the Year). Sure, her performance slot should still go to someone who has shown loyalty to country music, but Taylor Swift left on good terms, and “Betty” might be one of the most country songs to be performed on the night. It’s currently doing well on country radio where it’s being promoted (#35). Instead of Swift, it could have been Justin Bieber performing with Dan + Shay, or Nelly with Kane Brown, or a host of other worse options. Considering the circumstances, it could be worse.
Entertainer of the Year will be a big focus. Nominees Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, and Carrie Underwood will all open the show with medleys of their hits, but it’s how the show will end, and who will win the evening’s biggest trophy that will be the talk afterwards. Will the ACMs try to make right what happened at the CMAs, when most were expecting Carrie Underwood to win, and it ended up going to Garth Brooks? Will Eric Church finally be awarded an Entertainer trophy after assembling one of the biggest, and most loyal fans bases in the genre? Or will Luke Combs step up to take the spot of the top artist in country music at the moment, which sales and streams would seem to indicate he already is? Or will once again country music get in its own way, and someone like Thomas Rhett walk away with it? Whatever happens, expect the think pieces the next day to be fixated first and foremost on this specific award, regardless of what else happens.
Some awards have already been handed out. (See all nominees and early winners below). Songwriter of the Year went to Hillary Lindsey, New Male Artist of the Year went to Riley Green, Tenille Townes won New Female Artist of the Year, Thomas Rhett won Video of the Year for “Remember You Young,” and Miranda Lambert and her touring troupe of Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack & Elle King all won for Musical Event of the Year for their rendition of “Fooled Around and Fell In Love.” Awarding six women is not only a way the ACMs can help stave off criticism of not highlighting women. It also may be a sign that women may have a good night as voters look to remove some of the stigma surrounding country for not supporting women enough.
There won’t be any legacy performers this time. You usually have at least one or two true legends to look forward to at one of these things. Not so much for the 2020 ACM Awards. As you can see from the performers below, it’s all today’s country aside from Trisha Yearwood, and Clint Black and his wife Lisa Hartman presenting an award. Clint Black may be the only cowboy hat you see all night. However Carrie Underwood is performing a “classic country medley,” and Trisha will be singing during an In Memoriam segment, so perhaps these will be bright spots.
Some, if not many of the performances will be pre-recorded. We know this since initially when the ACMs announced the Ryman Auditorium would be one of the venues, it was the same night the Americana Music Awards were planning to have their annual presentation. The Americana Awards has since been postponed. But the ACMs said at the time of the scheduling conflict that they would be taping the Ryman performances days in advance.
Performers
— Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani – “Happy Anywhere”
— Carrie Underwood from the Grand Ole Opry House – Classic Country Medley
— Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett – Medleys
— Dan + Shay from the Grand Ole Opry House – “I Should Probably Go to Bed”
— Eric Church from the Grand Ole Opry House – “Stick That in Your Country Song”
— Florida Georgia Line from the Grand Ole Opry House – “I Love My Country”
— Gabby Barrett from the Ryman Auditorium – “I Hope”
— Jimmie Allen from the Bluebird Cafe – “Make Me Want To”
— Kane Brown from the Grand Ole Opry House – “Worldwide Beautiful”
— Keith Urban and P!nk from the Grand Ole Opry House – “One Too Many”
— Kelsea Ballerini from the Ryman Auditorium – “Hole in the Bottle”
— Luke Bryan from the Grand Ole Opry House – “One Margarita”
— Luke Combs from the Bluebird Cafe – “Better Together”
— Maren Morris from the Ryman Auditorium – “To Hell & Back”
— Mickey Guyton from the Grand Ole Opry House – “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”
— Miranda Lambert feat. Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick from the Bluebird Cafe – “Bluebird”
— Morgan Wallen from the Grand Ole Opry House – “Whiskey Glasses”
— Old Dominion from the Ryman Auditorium – Medley
— Riley Green from the Ryman Auditorium – “I Wish Grandpas Never Died”
— Taylor Swift from the Grand Ole Opry House – “Betty”
— Tenille Townes from the Ryman Auditorium
— Thomas Rhett feat. Jon Pardi from the Ryman Auditorium – “Beer Can’t Fix”
— Tim McGraw from the Bluebird Cafe – “I Called Mama”
— Trisha Yearwood – “I’ll Carry You Home” – In Memoriam Tribute
Presenters
Bobby Bones
Cam
CeCe Winans
Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black
Darius Rucker
Lauren Alaina
Lily Aldridge
Runaway June
Nominations
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Carrie Underwood
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
DUO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
The Highwomen
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Lindsay Ell
Caylee Hammack
Tenille Townes – Winner
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jordan Davis
Russell Dickerson
Riley Green – Winner
Cody Johnson
Morgan Wallen
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Center Point Road – Thomas Rhett
GIRL – Maren Morris
Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi
What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs
Wildcard – Miranda Lambert
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves
“Rumor” – Lee Brice
“What If I Never Get Over You” – Lady Antebellum
SONG OF THE YEAR
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere” – Ashley McBryde
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Some of It” – Eric Church
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Remember You Young” – Thomas Rhett – Winner
“Sugar Coat” – Little Big Town
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks feat. Blake Shelton
“Fooled Around and Fell in Love” – Miranda Lambert feat. Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack & Elle King – Winner
“Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens in a Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert feat. Lindsay Ell
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey – Winner
Shane McAnally
Josh Osborne
September 16, 2020 @ 9:36 am
What a collection of no-talent douchebags.
September 16, 2020 @ 9:55 am
I see a lot of fast-forwarding through this in my future.
September 16, 2020 @ 9:57 am
I would have liked to have seen Ashley McBryde perform. And why is Old Dominion signing a medley?
September 16, 2020 @ 10:01 am
In brief, to sum this up in one sentence:
The 2020 ACM Awards will not be covering Country Music.
Got it.
September 16, 2020 @ 10:10 am
Brooks & Dunn should win duo by default.
September 16, 2020 @ 10:39 am
I finally came to this decision. Fuck this shit, I have no need to see a bunch of non-country artist win country awards and slap each other on the back “for a job well done”. I’ll be playing Combs, Pardi, Jinks, McBride and other artists who should be getting these awards. I’m not gonna watch an event full of shitty artist who were too white to do hip hop.
September 16, 2020 @ 10:42 am
And no I’m not 80, I’m 18 and just happen to like music that hasn’t been edited to death on a computer. Country is alive and well, Radio is a lost cause, which is slowly dying anyways.
September 16, 2020 @ 11:13 am
You mentioned the fact that you’re not 80, as if anyone would assume that an 80 year old man would think Combs or any of the other folks you rattled off are country.
For me, the folks you named are not country enough for me to even wipe my a$$ with their album sleeves.
September 16, 2020 @ 11:40 am
The dead giveaway that you aren’t 80 are the artists you mentioned.
September 16, 2020 @ 12:02 pm
So you said “if the awards had been voted on last month, you would have likely seen Morgan Wallen win”. I highly doubt that because ever since the awards were announced, I’ve been confused as to why the 2 least deserving candidates won in their respective categories.
This just goes to show that voters are as clueless as ever. I expect to see more of this tonight…
September 16, 2020 @ 1:17 pm
Hey mate, good on you. Nothing wrong with Combs, Pardi etc.
Don’t listen to the critics, if you can play it on an acoustic guitar around a campfire then its good.
Enjoy it and have fun finding the world of older country and independent country. You’ll have fun.
September 16, 2020 @ 10:40 am
The women deserved to win that award.
September 16, 2020 @ 12:32 pm
Who said they didn’t? I just think that it could be a predictor for women to win big on the night. If they award a cover song that didn’t really have any impact commercially over a song that was one of the biggest in history on the Hot 100, it bodes well.
September 16, 2020 @ 1:27 pm
But then again don’t forget the ACMs have always had a huge crush on Miranda…
September 16, 2020 @ 2:16 pm
Any awards have had a huge crush on Miranda, because during the Bro-Country era, she was basically the only woman left in the mainstream.
If Carrie Underwood wins for Entertainer of the Year, folks should remember she won it back to back in 2009 and 2010. Not to say it wouldn’t be significant. But the CMA Entertainer of the Year is the one she’s coveted and never received.
September 16, 2020 @ 11:11 am
my local country station in the urban area I live in plays nothing but junky new country pop, and sponsors all the big shows in sheds and amphitheaters, but I do like that they do provide a valuable service by having sponsored a bunch of very small venue promotional shows for almost all of the male and female nominees for new artists of this yr.
September 16, 2020 @ 11:37 am
It takes three hours to hand out eight awards? Get over yourselves, Nashville.
September 16, 2020 @ 11:47 am
“Saving Country Music will be offering its observations and spirited dissent throughout the presentation in a LIVE BLOG during the presentation if you choose to tune in.”
Oh, this should be dbl aught good …
Screw the ACM’s, : D
Going to stop in here this evening
September 16, 2020 @ 11:48 am
For political reasons, and as a precursor for the CMA’s, women will win big including Carrie Underwood. Not saying right or wrong, just is what it is.
September 16, 2020 @ 1:44 pm
On next years CMA’s you will see the effect BLM has had on country music for better or worse. I myself will not be watching or buying any of the crap coming out of Nashville. #RedDirtCountry
September 16, 2020 @ 12:16 pm
Didn’t mean that as a bad thing. I listen to everything from Hank senior, to Luke Combs. Besides I think you can appreciate new artist no matter what age you are as long as they produce quality music that you like. I also don’t understand how they arnt Country enough. Jon Pardis headache medication is pretty heavy on the steel guitar. Luke Combs reminds me of Brooks and Dunn. Most of his good stuff isn’t played on the radio. I guess I should have said even though I’m not older I still have an appreciation for traditional sounding country music.
September 16, 2020 @ 12:45 pm
This includes performances by my favorites, the ridiculously underrated Mickey Guyton, Maren, Miranda and Kelsea (who wuz robbed at the CMAs) as well as Blake and Gwen (also robbed at CMAs) plus a lot of other performers I like. I am there so there, with popcorn. God’s Country better win.
Go ahead and hate on me I don’t care ????.
September 16, 2020 @ 1:41 pm
Trigger,
I’m going to list off all the names that have won the ACM Cliffie Stone Pioneer/Icon Award over the years and they are:
1969: Uncle Art Satherley
1970: Bob Wills
1971: Patsy Montana and Tex Ritter
1972: Bob Nolan, Stuart Hamblen and Tex Williams
1973: Cliffie Stone and Gene Autry
1974: Hank Williams, Sr.
1975: Johnny Bond, Merle Travis and Tennessee Ernie Ford
1976: Roy Rogers
1977: Owen Bradley
1978: Sons Of The Pioneers
1979: Eddie Dean
1980: Patti Page
1981: Ernest Tubb
1982: Leo Fender
1983: Chet Atkins
1984: Eddy Arnold
1985: Roy Acuff
1986: Kitty Wells
1987: Minnie Pearl
1988: Roger Miller
1989: Buck Owens
1991: Johnny Cash
1992: Willie Nelson
1993: George Jones
1994: Charley Pride
1995: Loretta Lynn
1996: Merle Haggard
1997: Roy Clark
1998: Charlie Daniels
1999: Glen Campbell
2000: Tammy Wynette
2001: Barbara Mandrell
2002: Ronnie Milsap
2003: Alabama
2004: Ray Price
2005: Chris LeDoux
2006: Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Kris Kristofferson and Little Jimmy Dickens
2007: Dolly Parton, Don Williams, Harlan Howard and Waylon Jennings
2008: Brenda Lee, Conway Twitty, The Oak Ridge Boys and Porter Wagoner
2009: Jerry Reed, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Hank Williams, Jr.
2010: Marty Robbins and Mel Tillis
2011: Garth Brooks and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers
2012: Emmylou Harris, Billy Sherrill, Ricky Skaggs and Dwight Yoakam
2013: The Judds and Keith Whitley
2014: Bob Beckham
2016: Crystal Gayle, Tanya Tucker and The Statler Brothers
2017: George Strait
2018: Alan Jackson
2019: Brooks & Dunn and Martina McBride
What do you think?.
September 16, 2020 @ 1:47 pm
All of those artists are actual country artists. So this award should go to the folks in Red Dirt Country that are playing for themselves and their fans…not the almighty dollar.
September 16, 2020 @ 2:14 pm
I think that’s an impressive list of artists. Have not heard any word on who will win it this year.
September 16, 2020 @ 2:12 pm
Can’t believe Chris Stapleton isn’t performing a song from his new album
September 16, 2020 @ 2:13 pm
Blake and Gweeeny performing in front of a green screen in Hollyweird trying to pass that off as the Bluebird Cafe is sacrilegious and insult to country music.
September 16, 2020 @ 2:17 pm
Doubt it was green screened, but it was likely recorded a while ago.
September 16, 2020 @ 4:32 pm
They are at the Opry. (In person. Though may be recorded earlier because of Voice commitments).
And. Gwen is an amazing songwriter who has 3 Grammys and has sold 33 million albums with No Doubt, 9 million as a solo artist. She has more cred than many of the other artists on this bill so, bless your heart and have some damn respect.
September 16, 2020 @ 4:20 pm
Nothing is worse than seeing Country Music get on its knees for Taylor Swift. It is embarrassing. Let her go.
She left. Don’t invite her back.
September 16, 2020 @ 4:44 pm
Country music has always provided a place to come home to for those that have gone off to pop.
Think of Taylor as James, and country music as Betty:
“But if I just showed up at your party
Would you have me? Would you want me?
Would you tell me to go fuck myself
Or lead me to the garden?”
I guess you would tell Taylor to go “fuck” herself, instead of leading her to the garden…
September 16, 2020 @ 6:43 pm
I would never say that term to a lady. This is country music. We say ma’am.
But I don’t believe in being a doormat.
September 16, 2020 @ 4:25 pm
I’m watching the pre-show and they interviewed Mickey Guyton and she said “it’s taken a long time for me to get here”… Bless her heart, it’s been TOO LONG. She is so underrated and is a female artist who needs recognition!