Academy of Country Music

Today we are going to cover another award show.  This awards show is put on by the Academy of Country Music (ACM).  The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in LA as the Country and Western Music Academy.  The Academy was formed to promote country music in the western states.  The ACM hosted its first award show in 1965.

The ACM gives out many different awards.  The most prestigious awards for the ACM are Artist of the Decade and Entertainer of the Year.  But the other many awards recognize the artists, songwriters, songs, country music radio, albums, and videos every year.  The awards show is usually in April or May and recognizes the achievements of the previous year, so when people watch it they think that the songs being awarded are very old but it is just the way the show works.

Now I am sure that you are interested in hearing about some of the previous winners of the awards are.  The Artist of the Decade has been awarded to 5 artists.  The last artist to win the award was George Strait.  The other winners have been Garth Brooks, Alabama, Loretta Lynn, and Marty Robbins.  The most prestigious award given every year is Entertainer of the Year.  Carrie Underwood received that award last April.  Alabama was the winner of the award 5 years in a row.  There have been 7 females to win this award with the last person being Carrie Underwood, who has also been the only female to win it more than once.  Garth Brooks has been the only one to win the Entertainer of the Year six times.

The next top award for the ACM is Female Vocalist of the Year.  This was awarded to Miranda Lambert this April.  Reba McEntire has received the award four years in a row.  Reba has also won the award the most with receiving it seven times.  The other top award is Male Vocalist of the Year.   This last April, the award went to Brad Paisley.  Brad has been the one to win the award four years in a row, longest in the history of the show, while Merle Haggard has been the one to receive the award the most, six times.

There is one more award that an artist can receive but no one will know if they get it until three specific awards.  This award is the Triple Crown Award, which is given to the artist who has won the Entertainer of the Year, Top New Artist, and Female/Male Vocalist of the Year.   This award has only been given to five artists in the history of the ACM: Kenny Chesney, awarded in 2005, Merle Haggard, awarded in 1970, Mickey Gilley, awarded in 1976, Barbara Mandrell, awarded in 1980, and Carrie Underwood, awarded in 2008.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about the Academy of Country Music and its award show.  I also hope that it has given you some interest to look for the show in the upcoming April/May and try to watch to see who will become the next award winners.