The 61st ACM Awards don't air until 8 p.m. ET tonight on Prime Video - but the Academy didn't wait to start handing out hardware.
Five winners were revealed in the days leading up to tonight's show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. If you missed them, here's what already happened - and what the night still has in store.
Jessie Jo Dillon walked away with the headline moment of the pre-show. The Nashville songwriter became the first person in ACM history to win Songwriter of the Year three consecutive times - a record that had never been done before in the award's entire history. She is also only the third woman ever to receive the honor. Megan Moroney called her via FaceTime during a recording session at RCA Studio A to break the news. Dillon's response: "I'm beside myself to have won this coveted award once, let alone three times." Her pen is behind some of the biggest country songs of the past three years, including Jelly Roll and Carin León's "Lighter," which was named the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup - a crossover moment that put a faith-rooted artist's words in front of a global audience.
Avery Anna was named New Female Artist of the Year and found out in a surprise moment on stage. Tucker Wetmore won New Male Artist of the Year - Thomas Rhett flew to London and interrupted his live show to tell him. He was, by his own words, "at a loss for words."
Ella Langley claimed Artist-Songwriter of the Year, riding the momentum of "Choosin' Texas," one of the most-streamed country songs of the year. Stephen Wilson Jr. won Visual Media of the Year for the music video for "Cuckoo," which he co-directed with Tim Cofield.
What's Still on the Table Tonight
The five biggest categories - Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist, Male Artist, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year - all go live during tonight's broadcast.
The Entertainer of the Year race carries the most weight. Seven nominees are in: Lainey Wilson (defending champion and three-peat candidate), Megan Moroney (this year's leading nominee with nine total nods), Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, and Morgan Wallen.
If Wilson wins, she joins a very short list - only the sixth artist ever to win three consecutive times, alongside Alabama, Hank Williams Jr., Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, and Jason Aldean, and the first woman to do it.
If Stapleton wins Male Artist of the Year, he ties Merle Haggard's all-time record of six wins in the category.
Jelly Roll's presence on that Entertainer of the Year stage carries its own story. He co-wrote and recorded "Amen" with Shaboozey, which is nominated for Music Event of the Year tonight. For a man whose faith testimony has become one of country music's most talked-about narratives - and who told the Dove Awards crowd last year that "the world is hearing about Jesus like they haven't in decades" - every ACM camera on him tonight is carrying more than a country music story.
Tonight's show starts at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Prime Video, free to stream in 240+ countries - no subscription required.
Related Article: The 2026 ACM Awards Are Tonight: Here's Everything Happening at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
