Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, LeAnn Rimes & More Added as 2025 ACM Awards Performers
Three nominees for entertainer of the year at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards — Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson and Kelsea Ballerini — are among the 10 performers who were added to the lineup for the May 8 show. Also added were Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Clint Black, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts and Wynonna Judd.
They join previously announced performers Reba McEntire (who is also set to host the show), Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Lainey Wilson.
Five of these 14 performers are past winners of entertainer of the year at the ACM Awards. McEntire won in that top category in 1995; Brooks & Dunn in 1996, 1997 and 2002; Lambert in 2022; Stapleton in 2023 and Wilson in 2024.
Of these 14 performers, all but Johnson are past ACM winners in at least one category. And Johnson may win his first ACM Award this year — he has seven nominations, a total topped only by Ella Langley with eight. Morgan Wallen and Wilson also have seven.
More performers will be revealed next week.
The 60th ACM Awards will stream live for a global audience on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The show will be expanded from two to two-and-a-half hours, and celebrates six decades of country music.
The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Kapoor is among the most successful executive producers in TV. He has served in that capacity on the last four Grammy telecasts (alongside Ben Winston and Jesse Collins) and the last two Oscar telecasts (alongside Katy Mullan).
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This will be the 18th time McEntire has hosted or co-hosted the ACM Awards. She first co-hosted the show in 1986 with John Schneider and the late Mac Davis. McEntire is fast closing in on Bob Hope’s record as the most frequent host of any major awards show. Hope hosted or co-hosted the Oscars 19 times between 1940 and 1978.
This year’s show is presented by Carnival Cruise Line. A limited number of tickets to the show are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest running country music awards show. It made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
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