The ACM Awards have announced the first round of performers set for the May 17 show, with Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson and Riley Green leading the initial charge.
All three performers are on a hot streak, chart-wise and/or awards-wise. Wilson is the ACMs’ reigning entertainer of the year, and she will be bringing the show the live premiere of her new single, “Can’t Sit Still,” which is included in her forthcoming Netflix documentary. Johnson won song of the year at the ACMs last year and will sing a thus-far undisclosed number. Green will perform his hit “Change My Mind.”
(The Academy of Country Music also has Green on tap to headline an affiliated charity event, the 2026 ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green benefit, being held at Topgolf Las Vegas May 15.)
Once again, the Academy of Country Music’s awards will be seen exclusively on Prime Video, with a switch this year from the previous Texas base for the webcast to a return to the ACMs’ old home in Las Vegas. The show will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena at 8 p.m. ET/5 PT on May 17.
A host, nominees, presenters and other details about the show have yet to be unveiled.
The Academy also announced that Patrick Menton has been upped to the role of executive producer of the ACMs; he previously serverd as talent producer from 2018-2019, co-producer from 2020-2022, and co-executive producer in the years 2023-2025). He will partner as executive producer with longtime showrunner Raj Kapoor.
The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Other producers on board besides Menton and Kapoor are Damon Whiteside as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music; Jay Penske and Barry Adelman as executive producers for DCP; and John Saade as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Whiteside broke the news on March 3 that he will step down as head of the Academy of Country Music in June, saying at the time that he was eager to stay on long enough to see this year’s awards program through.
Source: variety.com
