When nominations for the 2026 ACM Awards were announced earlier this month, the commanding storyline was the dominance by women as nominees. Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, and Lainey Wilson were the leaders, each of them besting the closest male nominee, Chris Stapleton with six.
But while the recognition of women by ACM voters was a positive sign this year, it doesn’t necessarily mean women artists are being given the same opportunities as their male counterparts. In a special episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we raise five questions — call them “hot takes,” if you choose — about the nominations, categories, and races at the 61st ACM Awards. The ACMs stream Sunday, May 17, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, on Prime Video.
The Duo of the Year Category Continues to Be a Hot Mess
At last year’s ceremonies, Brooks & Dunn, a duo whose last recorded music was a collection of re-recorded duets in 2024, walked away with the ACM for Duo of the Year. This year, 18 months since they dropped Reboot II, the Country Music Hall of Famers are nominated again. The War & Treaty, however, who released a new album in 2025 and have been perennial performers at country awards shows, are nowhere to be found. It all helps to underscore why this category is, without fail, a head-scratcher. Another example? The inclusion of new duo Thelma & James, a group so up-and-coming they should have been nominated in the New Duo or Group of the Year race. If only that category existed this year…. which brings us to our fourth take.
The New Male Artist of the Year and New Female Artist of the Year categories will give names like Avery Anna, Vincent Mason, and Emily Ann Roberts the chance to walk away with an ACM trophy. But unlike last year, there’s no New Duo or Group of the Year race. Meanwhile, artists who’ve had breakout years, like Kaitlin Butts and Carter Faith, and even Brittney Spencer, who is about to open for Bob Dylan, are absent from the new categories. Chalk that up mainly to the requirement that a nominee must have had a song in the Top 50 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart or on Mediabase’s Country chart.
The 2026 Album of the Year Race Is Pretty Weird
While it’s encouraging to see new names like Riley Green, Parker McCollum, and Carter Faith nominated for their respective bodies of work here, the snubs are egregious. Two of the most groundbreaking albums released last year, Eric Church’s Evangeline vs. The Machine and Tyler Childers’ Snipe Hunter, failed to score nominations. Meanwhile, a deluxe edition of his Don’t Mind If I Do album is what secured Green a nod. We’re beyond thrilled to see Faith’s Cherry Valley, which RS ranked No. 2 on its Best Country and Americana Albums of 2025 list, but it shines a light on Faith’s absence from the New Female field.
Has Entertainer of the Year Lost Its Luster?
The top prize at the ACMs (and the rival CMA Awards), Entertainer of the Year is typically regarded as recognizing the year’s best ambassador for country music. The vague criteria is hard to quantify, which can lead to some subjective wins. But if the category does in fact stand for spreading the mission of country music, then there’s one egregious omission: Ella Langley. No one has done more for country music this year than Langley and her crossover smash “Choosin’ Texas.”
Women Dominated the Nominations, But Is Radio Playing Them?
Moroney has nine, Miranda has eight, and Langley and Wilson each have seven nominations, making them the clear leaders at the 61st ACMs. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to them all getting radio play. Right now on Mediabase, there’s only two women in the Top 20: Langley and Moroney. To be clear, as author and RS contributor Marissa R. Moss says, this isn’t on the women themselves, but on the industry.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Corp., the parent company of Rolling Stone.
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