ACM Awards
winners since
1965

Every winner and nominee from the 1st ACM Awards to the 61st. Pick a year on the ruler, search an artist, song or album, or follow one award category through six decades.

Previous ceremony

1980 16th ACM Awards

Next ceremony

Entertainer of the Year

Band of the Year (Non-Touring)

  • Winner Palomino Riders
  • Nominee Country Sunshine
  • Nominee Desperados
  • Nominee Electric Cowboy Band
  • Nominee New Country

Band of the Year (Touring)

  • Winner Charlie Daniels Band
  • Nominee Buckaroos
  • Nominee Strangers
  • Nominee The Dalton Gang
  • Nominee The Waylors

Top Female Vocalist

Top Male Vocalist

Top Vocal Group

Top New Female Vocalist

Top New Male Vocalist

Album of the Year

  • Winner Urban Cowboy Irving Azoff (Producer), Full Moon / Asylum (Record Company)
  • Nominee Coal Miner's Daughter Loretta Lynn
  • Nominee Greatest Hits-Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers
  • Nominee I Believe In You Don Williams
  • Nominee There's A Little Bit Of Hank In Me Charley Pride

Song of the Year

Country Music Movie of the Year

  • Winner Bernard Schwartz - Universal Coal Miner's Daughter (Producer)
  • Nominee Bruce Gilbert - 20th Century Nine To Five (Producer)
  • Nominee Gene Taft - Warner Brothers Honeysuckle Rose (Producer)
  • Nominee Irving Azoff - Paramount Urban Cowboy (Producer)
  • Nominee Ken Kragen - Ken Kragen Production The Gambler (Producer)
  • Nominee Robert Evans - Paramount Urban Cowboy (Producer)

Single Record of the Year

Bass

  • Winner Curtis Stone
  • Nominee Billy Graham
  • Nominee Bob Moore
  • Nominee Joe Osborn
  • Nominee Red Wooten

Drums

  • Winner Archie Francis
  • Nominee Buddy Harman
  • Nominee George Manz
  • Nominee Kenny Malone
  • Nominee Richie Albright

Fiddle

  • Winner Johnny Gimble
  • Nominee Charlie Daniels Charlie Daniels, has been chosen for the ACM Spirit Award, honoring the contributions of Merle Haggard, who received 20 ACM Awards in his career, including the Triple Crown Award. This award is presented to a singer-songwriter who is continuing the legacy of Country Music legend Mer, le Hagg, ard by following his/her own path, crafting great songs, and epitomizing Hagga, rd’s spirit through genuine performances and great storytelling., freely shared his thoughts and viewpoints throughout his career, but his legacy may be his deep love for children, his fans, and his country. He devoted countless hours of his time and recruited several of his favorite artists to join him on the annual Christmas 4 Kids Tour Bus Shows. His many Volunteer Jams appealed to Country listeners who embraced Daniels’ outsized personality, while veterans and military families could not have found a more enthusiastic or patriotic advocate., Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Daniels taught himself to play guitar at 15, started touring with a rock band after high school, and emerged in the 1960s as a promising songwriter and studio musician. E, vis Pres, ley cut one of Daniels’ compositions, “It Hu, rts Me,” in 1964. Daniels co-wrote the song with producer Bo, b Johns, ton, who would later hire Daniels to play guitar and/or bass guitar on three albums by Bo, b Dyla, n: Nashville Skyline, ,, Self Portrait, and, New Morning, ., In 1973, “Une, asy R, ider” carried the Charlie Daniels Band into the Top 10 at pop radio. A year later,, Fi, re on the M, ountain, proved to be the band’s platinum breakout album, offering essential CDB tracks like “Long Hai, red Country Boy,” “The South’s Gonna Do It Again,” and “Tr, udy.” Although Daniels charted 34 singles at Country radio across five consecutive decades, his signature song will always be 1979’s “The De, vil Went Down to Ge, orgia.” A recipient of the 1997 ACM Pioneer Award, Daniels was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016 and passed away in 2020.
  • Nominee Doug Atwell
  • Nominee Harold Hensley
  • Nominee Tommy Jackson

Guitar

  • Winner Al Bruno
  • Nominee James Burton
  • Nominee Johnny Blankenship
  • Nominee Reggie Young
  • Nominee Thumbs Carlisle

Keyboard

  • Winner Hargus "Pig" Robbins
  • Nominee Floyd Cramer
  • Nominee Glen Hardin
  • Nominee John Hobbs
  • Nominee Kim Beck
  • Nominee Morgan Stoddard
  • Nominee Ron Oates

Specialty Instrument

  • Winner Charlie McCoy
  • Nominee Billy Liebert
  • Nominee Carl Walden
  • Nominee Larry McNeely
  • Nominee Lee Feltner

Steel Guitar

  • Winner Buddy Emmons
  • Winner J.D. Maness
  • Nominee Al Vescova
  • Nominee Johnny Davis
  • Nominee Lloyd Green
  • Nominee Ralph Mooney

Disc Jockey of the Year

  • Winner Sammy Jackson

Radio Station of the Year

  • Winner KLAC - Los Angeles, CA

Country Nightclub of the Year

  • Winner Gilley's - Pasadena, TX
  • Winner Palomino - North Hollywood, CA

Nightclub of the Year

  • Winner Gilley's - Pasadena, TX

Gene Weed Special Achievement Award

Jim Reeves Memorial Award

  • Winner Ken Kragen

Pioneer Award

  • Winner Ernest Tubb

Top Vocal Duet