# 54th Academy of Country Music Awards

The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 7, 2019. Nominations were announced on February 20, 2019 by Reba McEntire during CBS This Morning, with Chris Stapleton and Dan + Shay leading with six nominations each. McEntire returned to host the awards for the sixteenth time.
Jason Aldean was presented with the ACM's rare honor "Artist of the Decade" by previous holder George Strait.

## Winners and Nominees

The winners are shown in bold.
| Entertainer of the Year | Album of the Year |
| Keith Urban Jason Aldean Luke Bryan Kenny Chesney Chris Stapleton | Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves Dan + Shay – Dan + Shay Desperate Man – Eric Church From A Room: Volume 2 – Chris Stapleton The Mountain – Dierks Bentley |
| Female Artist of the Year | Male Artist of the Year |
| Kacey Musgraves Miranda Lambert Ashley McBryde Maren Morris Carrie Underwood | Thomas Rhett Dierks Bentley Luke Combs Chris Stapleton Keith Urban |
| Group of the Year | Duo of the Year |
| Old Dominion Lady Antebellum LANCO Little Big Town Midland | Dan + Shay Brothers Osborne Florida Georgia Line LoCash Maddie & Tae |
| Single of the Year | Song of the Year |
| "Tequila" – Dan + Shay "Down to the Honkytonk" – Jake Owen "Heaven" – Kane Brown "Meant to Be – Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line "Most People Are Good" – Luke Bryan | "Tequila" – Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds, Dan Smyers "Break Up in the End" – Jessie Jo Dillon, Chase McGill, Jon Nite "Broken Halos" – Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton "Meant to Be" – David Garcia, Tyler Hubbard, Joshua Miller, Bebe Rexha "Space Cowboy" – Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves "Yours" – Casey Brown, Russell Dickerson, Parker Welling |
| New Female Artist of the Year | New Male Artist of the Year |
| Ashley McBryde Danielle Bradbery Lindsay Ell Carly Pearce | Luke Combs Jimmie Allen Jordan Davis Michael Ray Mitchell Tenpenny |
| New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year | Video of the Year |
| Lanco High Valley Runaway June | "Drunk Girl" – Chris Janson "Babe" – Sugarland and Taylor Swift "Burn Out" – Midland "Burning Man" – Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne "Shoot Me Straight" – Brothers Osborne "Tequila" – Dan + Shay |
| Music Event of the Year | Songwriter of the Year |
| "Burning Man" – Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne "Drowns the Whiskey" – Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" – David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney "Keeping Score" – Dan + Shay and Kelly Clarkson Meant to Be" – Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line | Shane McAnally Ross Copperman Ashley Gorley Chas McGill Josh Osborne |

## Performances

| Performer(s) | Song(s) |
| Florida Georgia Line Jason Aldean | "Can't Hide Red" |
| Thomas Rhett | "Look What God Gave Her" |
| Miranda Lambert | Medley of Hits "Kerosene" "Gunpowder and Lead" "Mama's Broken Heart" "White Liar" "Little Red Wagon" |
| Luke Bryan | "Knockin' Boots" |
| Chris Stapleton | "A Simple Song" |
| Ashley McBryde | "Girl Going Nowhere" |
| Maren Morris Brothers Osborne | "All My Favorite People" |
| George Strait Miranda Lambert | "Run" |
| Luke Combs Amanda Shires (on fiddle) | "Beautiful Crazy" |
| Dan + Shay Kelly Clarkson | "Keeping Score" |
| Little Big Town | "The Daughters" |
| Blake Shelton | "God's Country" |
| Old Dominion | "Make It Sweet" |
| Brooks & Dunn Luke Combs | "Brand New Man" |
| Keith Urban Charlie Worsham (on guitar) | "Burden" |
| Eric Church Ashley McBryde | "The Snake" |
| Lanco | "Rival" |
| Carrie Underwood | "Southbound" |
| Kane Brown Khalid | "Saturday Nights" |
| Reba McEntire | "Freedom" |
| Jason Aldean Kelly Clarkson | Artist of the Decade Medley "Lights Come On" "Don't You Wanna Stay" "Dirt Road Anthem" |
| Chrissy Metz Lauren Alaina Maddie & Tae Mickey Guyton Carrie Underwood | "I'm Standing With You" |
| Dierks Bentley Brandi Carlile | "Travelin' Light" |
| George Strait | "Every Little Honky Tonk Bar" |

## Presenters

* Presenters
* Lauren Alaina
* Beth Behrs
* Clint Black
* Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
* Jessie James Decker
* Hunter Hayes
* Jay Hernandez
* Lady Antebellum
* Midland
* Nancy O'Dell
* Danica Patrick
* Carly Pearce
* Michael Ray
* Cole Swindell
* Wilmer Valderrama

## Reception

In its review of the event, Rolling Stone Country praised that the ACMs took the opportunity to bring seasoned musicians Amanda Shires and Charlie Worsham "into the fold" by having them appear alongside Luke Combs and Keith Urban respectively but criticised that the ACMs did not introduce either of them or even feature them on screen. Worsham, who the reviewer believed should have been nominated for his own awards, performed "mostly in the shadows" and Shires, who "helped transform [Combs' performance] with her lyrical playing" was barely seen. Rolling Stone also praised Reba McEntire's hosting and the performances by Dierks Bentley and Brandi Carlile, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert and Ashley McBryde but stated that it was "baffling" that Kacey Musgraves, who had five nominations and won the CMA Award for Album of the Year and four Grammy Awards including Best Country Album and the all-genre Album of the Year for Golden Hour, did not perform. Musgraves' win made her only the third artist (after Taylor Swift and the artists that appeared on Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?) to win the ACM, CMA and Grammy Awards for Best Country Album as well as the all-genre Grammy for Album of the Year.