Photo: Getty Images
Brooks & Dunn surprised rapidly-rising country and bluegrass star Zach Top with his first honor from the Academy of Country Music.
Top, 27, a breakout singer-songwriter from Sunnyside, Washington, received the ACM New Make Artist of the Year award. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, the most-winning duo in ACM history, congratulated Top in a surprise video before the Cold Beer & Country Music artist took the stage for a sold out crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina, the Academy of Country Music confirmed on Thursday evening (April 24).
“I couldn’t be more honored, and I can’t say a big enough thank you to my fans for loving music and loving what we do on the road and listening to the songs every day,” said Top, who is on his own headlining tour and getting ready to join Dierks Bentley’s run of shows next month. “It means the world to me, I’ve always wanted to just play and sing for a living, and I get to do that now and it’s cool to be able to get a little trophy every now and then to let us know that we’re doing good doing it. So thank you so much, this is beautiful.”
Other artists up for awards at the milestone 60th ACM show include Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll and more. First-time nominee Ella Langley is the most-nominated artist with eight nods. The star-studded show will include performances by reigning Entertainer of the Year Wilson, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, Cody Johnson, Kelsea Ballerini, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, and Wynonna Judd. Additionally, Reba McEntire will host the show for her 18th time, more than any other artist.
Brooks & Dunn joined the star-studded lineup of the 2025 iHeartCountry Festival, which is slated to take place on Saturday, May 3. The festival, hosted by iHeartRadio’s Bobby Bones, will return to Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Other artists in the lineup include Cole Swindell, Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts, Sam Hunt, Megan Moroney, Bailey Zimmerman and Nate Smith. Smith and Moroney will also perform at the free Daytime Village, taking over the Dell Technologies Plaza from 12:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m. CT. That lineup also includes Matt Stell, Tucker Wetmore and Dasha. Dasha will also appear on the main stage at the iHeartCountry Festival, iHeartCountry revealed on Tuesday (April 22).
Hulu will be the Official Streaming Destination of the festival, with performances livestreamed exclusively to all Hulu subscribers at no additional cost. Additional information about the livestream will be posted across Hulu’s platform and social media channels. Fans can tune in to the 2025 iHeartCountry Festival to catch all of the action live on May 3 at 8pm ET/5pm PT (7pm CT) across iHeartCountry stations nationwide and on the free iHeartRadio app via iHeartRadio's iHeartCountry station. Tickets to the 2025 iHeartCountry Festival are available now via Ticketmaster.com.
Watch Top’s first ACM victory here, and see the full list of nominees below.
The 60th ACM Awards will kick off at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 8.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
DUO OF THE YEAR
GROUP OF THE YEAR
NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR
ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine) - Megan Moroney
Producer: Kristian Bush
Record Company-Label: Columbia Records / Sony Music Nashville
- Beautifully Broken - Jelly Roll
Producers: BazeXX, Brock Berryhill, Zach Crowell, Devin Dawson, Charlie Handsome, Ben Johnson, mgk, The Monsters & Strangerz, Austin Nivarel, SlimXX, Ryan Tedder, Isaiah Tejada, Alysa Vanderheym
Record Company-Label: BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville / Republic Records
- Cold Beer & Country Music - Zach Top
Producer: Carson Chamberlain
Record Company-Label: Leo33
- F-1 Trillion - Post Malone
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Record Company-Label: Mercury Records / Republic Records
- Whirlwind - Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jay Joyce
Record Company-Label: BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville
SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- A Bar Song (Tipsy) - Shaboozey
Producers: Sean Cook, Nevin Sastry
Record Company-Label: American Dogwood / EMPIRE
- Dirt Cheap - Cody Johnson
Producer: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville
- I Had Some Help - Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Record Company-Label: Mercury Records / Republic Records
- White Horse - Chris Stapleton
Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton
Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville
- you look like you love me - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Producer: Will Bundy
Record Company-Label: SAWGOD / Columbia Records
SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
- 4x4xU - Lainey Wilson
Songwriters: Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere, Lainey Wilson
Publishers: Louisiana Lady; One Tooth Productions; Reservoir 416; Songs of One Riot Music; Sony/ATV Accent
- The Architect - Kacey Musgraves
Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne
Publishers: Songs for Indy and Owl; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing
- Dirt Cheap - Cody Johnson
Songwriter: Josh Phillips
Publishers: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing; Write or Die Music; Write the Lightning Publishing
- I Had Some Help - Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Songwriters: Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Keith Smith, Morgan Wallen, Chandler Paul Walters, Ryan Vojtesak
Publishers: Bell Ear Publishing; Master of my Domain Music; Poppy’s Picks; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Universal Music Corporation
- you look like you love me - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Songwriters: Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Raitiere
Publishers: Back 40 Publishing International; Langley Publishing; One Tooth Productions; Sony/ATV Tree; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]
- Cowboys Cry Too - Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan, Alysa Vanderheym
Record Company-Label: Black River Entertainment
- I Had Some Help - Post Malone, Morgan Wallen
Producers: Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins
Record Company-Label: Mercury Records / Republic Records
- I’m Gonna Love You - Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood
Producer: Trent Willmon
Record Company-Label: CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville
- we don’t fight anymore - Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton
Producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Carly Pearce
Record Company-Label: Big Machine Records
- you look like you love me - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Producer: Will Bundy
Record Company-Label: SAWGOD / Columbia Records
VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
- 4x4xU - Lainey Wilson
Producer: Jennifer Ansell
Director: Dano Cerny
- Dirt Cheap - Cody Johnson
Producer: Dustin Haney
Director: Dustin Haney
- I’m Gonna Love You - Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood
Producers: Christen Pinkston, Wesley Stebbins-Perry
Director: Dustin Haney
- Think I’m In Love With You - Chris Stapleton
Producers: Wes Edwards, Angie Lorenz, Jamie Stratakis
Director: Running Bear (Stephen Kinigopoulos, Alexa Stone)
- you look like you love me - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Producer: Whale Tale Music
Directors: Ella Langley, John Park, Wales Toney
ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
- Jessi Alexander
- Jessie Jo Dillon
- Ashley Gorley
- Chase McGill
- Josh Osborne