Stapleton, Parker And More Win Early ACM Awards

Chris Stapleton, Parker McCollum, and songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon are early winners for tonight's (5/16) Academy of Country Music Awards. 

Chris received his 17th ACM Award when he was named the winner of ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Year. Stapleton is the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year and also the most recent recipient of the Academy's coveted Triple Crown prize, which celebrates artists who have won New Female/Male Artist of the Year, Female/Male  Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. 

He also has four additional nominations going into tonight's (5/16) show, including Album of the Year (artist and producer) for Higher, Male Artist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. He is set to perform live on the show.

The winners of the ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Visual Media of the Year categories were revealed during ACM Awards week events in advance of the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be broadcast live tonight from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Parker won his second ACM Award, this time for ACM Visual Media of the Year, for his music video for "Burn It Down." 

In 2022, Parker McCollum won ACM New Male Artist of the Year. He is also nominated for ACM Single of the Year for "Burn It Down" at tonight's show. 

Jessie Jo Dillon received her first ACM Award after winning ACM Songwriter of the Year. Jessie has previously been nominated as a songwriter on Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber's "10,000 Hours" and Cole Swindell's "Break Up In The End."

RELATED: Chris Stapleton Should Host SNL

Hosted by Reba McEntire, the 59th ACM Awards will stream live feature performances from Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Post Malone, Parker McCollum, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, and Lainey Wilson, as well as a show-stopping performance featuring brand new music from Reba McEntire. 

The show will also feature must-see duets from Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, and Nate Smith featuring Avril Lavigne.

Megan Moroney, Nate Smith, and Tiger Lilly accept their early 2024 ACM Awards. Photo - ACM

Earlier this week (5/14), the winners of the ACM New Artist of the Year categories were announced. Megan Moroney won ACM New Female Artist of the Year, Nate Smith won ACM New Male Artist of the Year, and Tigirlily Gold won ACM New Duo or Group of the Year. 

With their wins, each artist will perform tonight as part of the ACM Awards show programming. Megan Moroney will have a performance featured during the ACM Awards Red Carpet Show, Nate Smith will make his ACM Awards performance debut in a special collaboration with Avril Lavigne, and Tigirlily Gold will take the ACM Awards stage for the first time.

4 amazing Chris Stapleton award show performances are not hard to find. Chris is known for his incredible award-show performances. As we celebrate his birthday this week (4/15), we look at four of his very best award-show moments.

I remember the first time I came face-to-face with Chris Stapleton. He was an unknown, and a PR office in Nashville had a bunch of us over for a visit to see this new "incredible talent." They tell us that kind of thing a lot; every new artist is an "incredible talent." But as I was standing and waiting for this new talent to arrive, a guy with a t-shirt, an open plaid shirt, and a beard started to chat me up and asked about where I was from. I was friendly and told him about my hometown, which he said he visited a lot, and remarked how clean the city was.

The guy then politely excused himself, strapped on a guitar, and started to play for us. I was astonished that the unassuming and kind guy I was talking to was Chris Stapleton. They weren't kidding. It was immediately apparent that he was, in fact, an incredible talent.

It seemed like just months later, after his breakout CMA performance with Justin Timberlake in 2015, Chris was all anybody was talking about, and with good reason.

Ten GRAMMY wins later, this guy can do no wrong when it comes to music and performance. He is now known for his amazing award show performances and that Super Bowl National Anthem performance in 2023 that had people talking about more than the actual game itself.

Chris Stapleton and producer Dave Cobb accept the Best Country Album award for Traveller onstage during The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016, in Los Angeles, California
Larry Busacca/Getty Images 

Stapleton told us of his latest album, Higher, when he released it in November, "One thing that's probably notable about the record to me is it's the first one that we've put out that doesn't contain a cover, so there are no covers on this record. So, there's definitely some exploration of the edges of what that is, and certainly some moments of stretching out vocally and trying to see what that is. There's some different stuff on this record, and I think it's really great."

He added, "I think it's something that people will enjoy. I think there's something on it for everybody, which is kind of always my goal. If you're a kind of a hardcore traditional country person, there's a song on there for that somewhere. If you leaned into more of the R&B side of what we do, there's stuff on there for that. If you like the rock side of things that we do, there's stuff on there for that. And there's some really great songs on here. I'm excited about the songs on this record."

To celebrate the country superstar's birthday this week, we look at four amazing awards show performances he has given in the last few years.

This performance was a lot of fans' first exposure to Stapleton; it superchraged his career overnight. Timberlake performed with his friend because, at the time, he already knew how great Chris and his music were.

We are grateful to Justin for sharing Stapleton with us. Ever since, we've loved him and looked forward to every award show performance from the country star.

Such a powerful award show performance, and Stapleton never even recorded the song himself. The song has been recorded on albums by Patty Loveslle, Brad Paisley, Montgomery Gentry, and more.

The song is about the life and hardships of coal miners in Kentucky, Stapleton's native state. This performance garnered a standing ovation from the CMA Awards show crowd. The performance also reminds us why Loveless was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Chris sang this heartwrenching song solo at the 2021 CMA Awards and brought the crowd to tears with the tale of a heartbreak. The song was the second single from his fourth studio album, Starting Over. The lyrics to the chorus are: "Oh, why you got to be so cold? / Why you got to go and cut me like a knife / And put our love on ice? / Oh, girl, you know you left this hole / Right here in the middle of my soul / Oh, why you got to be so cold?"

At the 64th Grammy Awards, the song won the award for Best Country Song.

Chris starts this tribute to the song's original writer, the Band's Robbie Robertson, who passed away in August 2023. The song was released as the Band's first single in 1968 and was the group's debut album, Music from Big Pink.

As per usual, Chris delivered this collaboration at the Rock Hall with grace and dignity.