HARDY is the top nominee for the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, with seven nods. Lainey Wilson, who won two awards last year, is a beat behind with six nods, followed by Cole Swindell, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert, with five nods each.
The ACM expanded the number of nominees for entertainer of the year from five to seven this year with Brown and Morgan Wallen receiving their first nominations in the category, while three-time winner Jason Aldean returns with his first nomination in the category in four years. Reigning entertainer of the year winner Lambert is also in the running, along with Combs, Chris Stapleton and Carrie Underwood, all of whom were nominated last year.
Trending on Billboard
Lambert landed her 17th nod for female artist of the year, which enables her to pass Reba McEntire for the most nominations in the category. McEntire amassed 16 nods from 1983 to 2017.
Women accounted for three of the five nominees for album of the year: Lambert’s Palomino, Ashley McBryde’s Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville and Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country are competing for the award alongside Combs’ Growin’ Up and Jon Pardi’s Mr. Saturday Night.
This marks the first time that women (solo artists or all-woman groups) have accounted for three of the five nominations in this category since 1999, when The Chicks, Faith Hill and Jo Dee Messina were all nominated. The Chicks, then known as Dixie Chicks, won that year for Wide Open Spaces.
Combs’ album won the CMA Award for album of the year in November. Should it win here too, it would be the first album to win album of the year at both shows since Combs’ previous album, What You See Is What You Get, three years ago.
Brown’s “Thank God” (with wife Katelyn Brown) is nominated for single of the year. It’s the first single by a married couple to be nominated in that top category since “It’s Your Love” by Tim McGraw with Faith Hill, which won the 1997 award.
Carly Pearce & McBryde’s “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” is also nominated for single of the year. It’s the first all-female collab to be nominated in that category since “Does He Love You” by McEntire with Linda Davis 29 years ago. “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” won an ACM Award last year for music event of the year.
This year’s other nominees for single of the year are Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck.” “Til You Can’t” won the CMA Award for single of the year in November.
Brown is a first-time nominee for both entertainer of the year and male artist of the year. Brown is the first biracial or Black artist to be nominated for entertainer of the year since Charley Pride, who was nominated the first three years the ACM presented the award (1970-72). The War and Treaty, consisting of married couple Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, are nominated for duo of the year. They are the first Black duo to be nominated in that category.
Hit songwriter Ashley Gorley co-wrote three of the five songs nominated for song of the year – Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots.” Gorley is the only the third songwriter with three songs nominated in the same year, following Merle Haggard (1968) and Kris Kristofferson (1970).
Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett broke six-year streaks of nominations for female artist of the year and male artist of the year, respectively. But artists can come back after having a streak interrupted, as Kelsea Ballerini proves this year. She is nominated for female artist of the year for the sixth time after missing out last year.
The ACM Awards split their songwriter of the year category, won last year by HARDY, into two categories this year – songwriter of the year and artist-songwriter of the year. HARDY is nominated in the latter category, along with Combs, Lambert, Wallen and Ernest Keith Smith (ERNEST).
In another change, the name of the video of the year category was changed to visual media of the year.
The 2023 Studio Recording Awards and Industry Awards will be presented at the 16th Academy of Country Music Honors, which will be held Aug. 23 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Here’s a complete list of nominees for the 2023 ACM Awards.
MAIN CATEGORIES
Entertainer of the year
- Jason Aldean
- Kane Brown
- Luke Combs
- Miranda Lambert
- Chris Stapleton
- Carrie Underwood
- Morgan Wallen
Female artist of the year
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Miranda Lambert
- Ashley McBryde
- Carly Pearce
- Lainey Wilson
Male artist of the year
- Kane Brown
- Luke Combs
- Jordan Davis
- Chris Stapleton
- Morgan Wallen
Duo of the year
- Brooks & Dunn
- Brothers Osborne
- Dan + Shay
- Maddie & Tae
- The War and Treaty
Group of the year
- Lady A
- Little Big Town
- Midland
- Old Dominion
- Zac Brown Band
New female artist of the year
- Priscilla Block
- Megan Moroney
- Caitlyn Smith
- Morgan Wade
- Hailey Whitters
New male artist of the year
- Zach Bryan
- Jackson Dean
- ERNEST
- Dylan Scott
- Nate Smith
- Bailey Zimmerman
Album of the year
Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)
- Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde; Producer: John Osborne; Label: Warner Music Nashville
- Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records
- Growin’ Up – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Label: Columbia Records
- Mr. Saturday Night – Jon Pardi; Producers: Jon Pardi, Bart Butler, Ryan Gore; Label: Capitol Records Nashville
- Palomino – Miranda Lambert; Producers: Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Mikey Reaves; Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville
Single of the year
Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)
- Heart Like a Truck – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records
- Never Wanted to Be That Girl – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde; Producers: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally; Label: Big Machine Records/Warner Music Nashville
- She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville
- Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville
- ‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Label: Warner Music Nashville/CoJo Music
Song of the year
Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)
- Sand In My Boots – Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy; Publishers: Relative Music Group; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing
- She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols; Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee; Be A Light Publishing; Colden Rainey Music; EMI Blackwood Music Inc; Songs Of Roc Nation Music; Sony Tree Publishing; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Universal Music Corp; WC Music Corp; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
- ‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Songwriters: Ben Stennis, Matt Rogers; Publishers: Anthem Canalco Publishing; Dead Aim Music; The Stennis Mightier Music
- wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair; Publishers: Humerus Publishing Global; Nontypical Music; Pile of Schmidt Songs; Rednecker Music; Relative Music Group; Round Hill Verses Publishing; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; The Money Tree Vibez; WC Music Corp; Who Wants to Buy My Publishing
- You Should Probably Leave – Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Chris Stapleton; Publishers: One77 Songs; Sea Gayle Music; Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing; Spirit Two Nashville; WC Music Corp
Visual media of the year
Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)
- HEARTFIRST – Kelsea Ballerini; Producers: Christen Pinkston & Wesley Stebbins-Perry; Director: P Tracy
- She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Producer: Troy Jackson; Director: Spidey Smith
- Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Luke Arreguin; Director: Alex Alvga
- ‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Producer: Maddy Hayes; Director: Dustin Haney
- wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Producer: Inkwell Productions; Director: Justin Clough
- What He Didn’t Do – Carly Pearce; Producer: Ryan Byrd; Director: Alexa Campbell
Songwriter of the year
- Nicolle Galyon
- Ashley Gorley
- Chase McGill
- Josh Osborne
- Hunter Phelps
Artist-songwriter of the year
- Luke Combs
- ERNEST
- HARDY
- Miranda Lambert
- Morgan Wallen
Music event of the year
Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)
- At the End of a Bar – Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny; Producers: Chris DeStefano, Chris Young; Label: RCA Nashville
- She Had Me at Heads Carolina [Remix] – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville
- Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville
- Thinking ‘Bout You – Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Broken Bow Records
- wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt; Label: Big Loud Records
STUDIO RECORDING AWARDS
Bass player of the year
- Mark Hill
- Tony Lucido
- Steve Mackey
- Lex Price
- Craig Young
Drummer of the year
- Fred Eltringham
- Miles McPherson
- Jerry Roe
- Aaron Sterling
- Nir Z
Acoustic guitar player of the year
- Tim Galloway
- Todd Lombardo
- Danny Rader
- Bryan Sutton
- Ilya Toshinskiy
Piano/keyboards player of the year
- Jim “Moose” Brown
- Dave Cohen
- Charles Judge
- Billy Justineau
- Alex Wright
Specialty instrument player of the year
- Dan Dugmore
- Stuart Duncan
- Jenee Fleenor
- Josh Matheny
- Justin Schipper
Electric guitar player of the year
- Kris Donegan
- Kenny Greenberg
- Rob McNelley
- Sol Philcox-Littlefield
- Derek Wells
Audio engineer of the year
- Drew Bollman
- Josh Ditty
- Gena Johnson
- Justin Niebank
- F. Reid Shippen
Producer of the year
- Buddy Cannon
- Luke Dick
- Jay Joyce
- Joey Moi
- Jon Randall
- Derek Wells
INDUSTRY AWARDS
Casino of the year – theater
- Deadwood Mountain Grand – Deadwood, SD
- Golden Nugget – Lake Charles, LA
- Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
- Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
- Soaring Eagle – Mount Pleasant, MI
Casino of the year – arena
- Fallsview Casino Resort – Niagara Falls, ON
- Harrah’s – Council Bluffs, IA
- Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, NV
- Mystic Lake Casino Showroom – Prior Lake, MN
- Northern Quest Resort & Casino – Airway Heights, WA
- Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, NY
Festival of the year
- C2C: Country to Country – UK
- Carolina Country Music Fest – Myrtle Beach, SC
- Country Concert – Fort Loramie, OH
- Country Fest – Cadott, WI
- Country Thunder – Bristol, TN
- Stagecoach Festival – Indio, CA
- Tortuga Music Festival – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Fair/rodeo of the year
- Auburn Rodeo – Opelika, AL
- Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, WY
- Florida Strawberry Festival – Plant City, FL
- Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston, TX
- Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, IA
Club of the year
- Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX
- Coyote Joe’s – Charlotte, NC
- Grizzly Rose – Denver, CO
- Gruene Hall – New Braunfels, TX
- Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago, IL
Theater of the year
- Crystal Grand Music Theatre – Wisconsin Dells, WI
- Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
- Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
- Orpheum Theater – Omaha, NE
- Stiefel Theatre – Salina, KS
Outdoor venue of the year
- Bank of NH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
- FirstBank Amphitheater – Franklin, TN
- Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
- Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
- St. Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, FL
- The Wharf Amphitheater – Orange Beach, AL
Arena of the year
- Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, SD
- Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, TX
- Hertz Arena – Estero, FL
- Moody Center – Austin, TX
- Simmons Bank Arena – Little Rock, AR
- Thompson-Boling Arena – Knoxville, TN
Don Romeo talent buyer of the year
- Ron Pateras
- Pat Powelson
- Michelle Romeo
- Stacy Vee
- Troy Vollhoffer
Promoter of the year
- Patrick McDill
- Aaron Spalding
- Ed Warm
- Adam Weiser
- Jay Wilson