Very well-deserved. Tonight, Cody Johnson took home the coveted ACM Award for Entertainer of the Year, his first time taking home an EOTY trophy at any major country award show: View this post on Instagram He also took home the award for Male Artist of the Year, and he was nominated for four awards in total, also including Single of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for “The Fall.” CoJo gave a beautiful speech when accepting his EOTY trophy, and he also dedicated the award to his friend Luke Combs, who he toured with and opened for in Australia in August of 2023. It was during that tour that Combs’ wife, Nicole, gave birth to their second son, Beau Lee, while he was still Down Under, so he had to watch it all and be part of it through FaceTime. Combs has spoken at-length about how hard it was, and still is, to miss such a major life event, and Cody took time to acknowledge how hard that was, and how he appreciates how much Luke has done for the genre and everything he has sacrificed, and of course, it doesn’t get harder than missing the birth of a child and it was an incredibly classy move by Cody, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from this true Texas gentlemen: “I want to dedicate this to somebody you guys probably didn’t expect me to dedicate this to. There’s a man that was up for this award that I personally watched devote his life to country music, and I was there the night in Australia when his wife gave birth to one of their sons. And I watched the anguish, and I watched the defeat on his face for not being there because he was across the world playing music in a sold out arena. And the next night, right after it, I watched him get on stage and absolutely murder the stage and go on stage and play country music and preach the message of country music to a bunch of Australians across the world. So tonight, I want to dedicate my first Entertainer of the Year award to my buddy Luke Combs. I love you, brother. Thank you.” Cody is a father of three himself, and it’s clear how much he respects Combs (who wasn’t in attendance tonight) and everything he has done for the genre. He also spoke about how he doesn’t look at his phone when he gets home form the road, but it makes him that much more excited to get back to his live shows, noting how much he loves and appreciates his fans. Cody released his most recent album Leather in 2023, and is set to release his 10th studio album Banks of the Trinity on June 26th. View this post on Instagram Luke recorded a song Cody co-wrote called “I Ain’t Now Cowboy” on his recent album The Way I Am: The post “I Watched the Anguish”: Cody Johnson Dedicates His First EOTY Award to Luke Combs in Emotional Speech first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Who holds the record for most ACM Awards in one night? The ACM Awards returned to Las Vegas, Nevada tonight to shine a spotlight on country music. The event took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the great Shania Twain hosted the 61st edition of the ACM Awards. And it ended up being a record breaking night for breakout country star Ella Langley. The “Choosin’ Texas” singer was nominated seven times heading into the night as an artist, producer and songwriter. She ended up winning in every category, which you can see below: -Artist-Songwriter of the Year -Song of the Year: “Choosin’ Texas” (artist and songwriter) -Single of the Year: “Choosin’ Texas” (artist and producer) -Music Event of the Year: “Don’t Mind If I Do” with Riley Green -Female Artist of the Year What an incredible night for Ella… Female Artist of the Year.@ellalangleymsic #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/iXfFQiTcLr — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) May 18, 2026 If you are wondering how that adds up to seven total nominations, the “Song of the Year” award and “Single of the Year” award count as two each. Before Ella Langley won seven ACM Awards in one night, the record for most ACM Awards in a single night was six. That record was held by three country icons: Garth Brooks (1991), Faith Hill (1999) and Chris Stapleton (2016). You can see how their awards stacked up below: Garth Brooks – 1991: Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Song of the Year, and Top Country Video Faith Hill – 1999: Single Record of the Year (artist and producer), Top Female Vocalist, Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year (artist and producer) Chris Stapleton – 2016: Album of the Year (artist and producer), Song of the Year (artist and producer), New Male Vocalist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year That’s a star-studded grouping right there. And you can see how Ella Langley broke that record in 2026 with her collection of ACM Awards: Ella Langley – 2026: Song of the Year (artist and songwriter), Single of the Year (artist and producer), Music Event of the Year, Artist-Songwriter of the Year, Female Artist of the Year So now, Ella Langley officially holds the record for most ACM Awards won in a single night. That’s quite the title to have, and coming into the 2026 ACM Awards with the momentum that she had, it’s not all that surprising. It was a clean sweep by the “Be Her” singer, and if she wasn’t already on a rocket ship to country music stardom, she certainly is now. Go catch her on her Dandelion Tour in a town near you: The Dandelion Tour Dates June 18: Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&) June 19: Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&) June 25 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&) June 26 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&) July 23: Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %) July 24: Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %) July 25: North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %) July 30: Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %) July 31: Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %) August 13: Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &) August 14: Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &) August 15: Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &) @ Kameron Marlowe + Dylan Marlowe # Kaitlin Butts & Gabriella Rose % Laci Kaye BoothThe post Ella Langley Just Broke the Record for Most ACM Awards Won in a Single Night first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Another year, another goose egg for Morgan Wallen at the ACM Awards (not that he cares). Coming into the ACMs this year, one of the biggest names in all of country music only received three nominations: Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for his I’m The Problem record, and Artist-Songwriter of the Year. Though he’s certainly deserving to win any of those… he came away from the night with nothing. This was actually Morgan’s fourth consecutive nomination for the ACM Entertainer of the Year. Fun fact? He’s never won it. It was also his third nomination for Album of the Year, and he’s only ever won that one for his 2021 project Dangerous: The Double Album. Unsurprisingly, Wallen hasn’t attend the awards show since 2023. And why would he? He’s consistently at the top of country and all-genre charts, his albums connect with fans all across the world, and he sells out stadiums all across the country, every single year. Somehow, that never translated into any – or I suppose it would be more appropriate to say many – awards. After Morgan Wallen went 0 for 3 at the 2026 ACM Awards (Ella Langley won Artist-Songwriter of the Year, Parker McCollum won Album of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year went to Cody Johnson), his fans took to social media to once again defend their favorite artist for being snubbed: Award shows are fun but they’re a joke. In no universe is Parker McCollum’s album better than Morgan Wallen’s. LOL #acmawards — Lynden Blake (@LyndenBlake) May 18, 2026 @ACMawards seriously? @Zachtopmusic was robbed…. and then entertainer of the year? You have got to be kidding, Cody is great but Morgan Wallen crushed the stadiums all year, sell out after sell out. — Justin Allen (@BeerDadnBrewed) May 18, 2026 Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen absolutely robbed at the #ACMawards this year. They both had sold out stadium shows this week so I guess they are the real winners though — Ashley (@af1313af) May 18, 2026 these people honestly think we are stupid. Morgan Wallen is country music, ACM you are irrelevant. — Lefty Loosey (@schedmaster) May 18, 2026 Did Morgan Wallen not pay his ACM dues? By far the biggest name in the last 12 months and gets snubbed all the way around. #Imtheproblem — Alan Davis (@DavisA2025) May 18, 2026 Are they using the Dominion Voting machines? I know they blacklisted Morgan Wallen but this is getting ridiculous. Why even have him as a nominee? ACM Awards are a joke! — So Cal Sports Scoop (@dnett2884) May 18, 2026 Morgan Wallen not winning EOTY is really something…the industry still holding that grudge I see —

That didn’t impress them much. The 61st Annual ACM Awards are in the books, and it was a BIG night for Ella Langley. The “Choosin’ Texas” singer solidified her spot as one of the biggest artists in country music right now by taking home SEVEN trophies, including Female Artist of the Year and two each for Song of the Year (which goes to both the artist and the songwriter) and Single of the Year (which goes to the artist and the producer). Cody Johnson ended up taking home the night’s top prize of Entertainer of the Year, and there were a few highlights like Ella’s stripped-back performance of “Be Her” and Zach Top’s twangy performance of “Honky Tonk Till It Hurts.” It was also nice to see Texas country finally get some recognition, not only with CoJo’s Entertainer of the Year win but with Parker McCollum’s win for Album of the Year and shoutout to all of his fellow Texas country artists during his speech. But overall the entire show just felt…flat. It seemed like there were audio issues all evening (like when we couldn’t hear Lee Ann Womack during her performance with Parker), and many of the performances were slower songs that didn’t really seem to serve much purpose. There didn’t seem to be much buzz or online chatter about the show, but one thing that people WERE talking about over on social media was the hosting job by ’90s country legend Shania Twain. It was her first time hosting the show, and Shania seemed to struggle throughout the evening. Her opening monologue, which is usually an opportunity for the host to tell some jokes and entertain the crowd, was really just a history lesson on the ACM Awards. And there were some other bizarre moments, like when she mispronounced Ella Langley’s name (she called her “Elle” Langley) while introducing her performance. Overall it just wasn’t really a memorable performance as host, and social media took notice: @ACMawards seriously the worst host yall have ever had. Do better. Shania was horrid. — Come and Take Them (@WY0Conservative) May 18, 2026 Omg. Shania is a horrible! The ACMs should have no host at all. Is this the best they could find? — z – bbecker (@bkthrone) May 18, 2026 They have to get a new host next year. Shania was bad! #acmawards — Sports Alchemist (@sportsprophet47) May 18, 2026 Shania Twain is so damned awkward, it's funny to see! Probably the most awkward host I've ever seen on an award show! #ACMawards — Imagination (@SuppressedName) May 18, 2026 Oh Lord please make it stop. It’s awful. — Cathy Calhoun (@CathyCalhoun47) May 18, 2026 What happened to Shania Twain? — BetStar Phil (@Betstar101) May 18, 2026 shania sounds like she took a xanax before coming to the stage —

"Thank you to the women," Ella Langley said as she accepted her ACM Female Artist of the Year trophy. "I would not be standing up here without the women." Continue reading…