Shania Twain is set to host the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 17, 26 years after she won their top prize, entertainer of the year. Only Garth Brooks waited longer (32 years) between first winning entertainer of the year and finally hosting or co-hosting the show. He first won entertainer of the year in 1991 and co-hosted in 2023.
Twain was the fifth woman to win an ACM Award for entertainer of the year, following Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell and Reba McEntire. She will become just the third woman to solo-host the show, following Parton and McEntire.
Twain will become the second Canadian to host the show. I could give you all day to guess who the first one was and probably you still wouldn’t get it (nope, it wasn’t Anne Murray). It was actor Lorne Greene, best known for playing Ben Cartwright on Bonanza, who hosted the first two ACM Awards shows in 1966 and 1967. Greene also had a hit spoken-word record in 1964, “Ringo,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 21 on Hot Country Singles, as the chart was then called.
Twain will be the 14th act to both host or cohost the show and win entertainer of the year (not necessarily in the same year). Three acts (George Strait, Brooks & Dunn and Luke Bryan) have won entertainer of the year in a year they hosted, an impressive show of dominance. Bryan was the only act to double up in this way twice.
The 61st annual ACM Awards will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show will stream live globally on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT. Fans will also be able to watch the broadcast on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, as well as in the Amazon Music app.
Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running country music awards show. It made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in collaboration with Prime Video. Tickets are available for purchase on AXS.com.
Raj Kapoor and Patrick Menton are executive producers of the 61st annual ACM Awards, with Kapoor also serving as showrunner. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Here’s a complete list of the 14 acts to both host the ACM Awards and win entertainer of the year.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Loretta Lynn
ACM Host: 1975, 1980, 1985
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1976
Notes: Lynn was the first woman to win entertainer of the year. She was also the first woman to co-host the show (with Roger Miller in 1975). The country legend died in 2022 at age 90.
Kenny Rogers
ACM Host: 1978
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1979
Notes: Rogers co-hosted (with Donna Fargo and Barbara Mandrell) the year after he won the top prize. Rogers died in 2020 at age 81.
Barbara Mandrell
ACM Host: 1978, 1979
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1981
Notes: Mandrell won entertainer of the year during the two-year run of Barbara Mandrell & The Mandrell Sisters. The NBC variety series, in which she starred with her sisters Irlene Mandrell and Louise Mandrell, ran from November 1980 to June 1982.
Roy Clark
ACM Host: 1979
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1973, 1974
Notes: The Hee-Haw star was the first two-time winner of entertainer of the year – a factoid that would surprise many. He cohosted in 1979 with Barbara Mandrell and actor Dennis Weaver, best known for his roles on Gunsmoke and McCloud. Clark died in 2018 at age 85.
Mac Davis
ACM Host: 1984, 1986
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1975
Notes: Davis won entertainer of the year during the two-year run (from 1974 to 1976) of The Mac Davis Show, his own NBC TV variety show. Davis co-hosted in 1984 with Crystal Gayle and Charley Pride, and in 1986 with Reba McEntire and The Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider. Davis died in 2020 at age 78.
Reba McEntire
ACM Host: 18 times between 1986 and 2025
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1995
Notes: McEntire is second behind Bob Hope as the most frequent host of any major awards show. Hope hosted or co-hosted the Oscars 19 times between 1940 and 1978. For the record,McEntire did not host in the year she won entertainer of the year. McEntire has solo-hosted the show 12 times, three times as many as anyone else. (Dick Clark solo-hosted four early ACM Awards shows.) McEntire hosted the 2003 show, held at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, which was the first ACM Awards not held in the L.A. area. The show hasn’t been back to L.A. since. (Was it something we said?!)
George Strait
ACM Host: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1990, 2014
Notes: Strait has the longest span of entertainer of the year wins – 24 years. Strait was the first act to host and win entertainer of the year on the same show (1990).
Alabama
ACM Host: 1990
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
Notes: Alabama are the only act in ACM history to win entertainer of the year five years running. They were also the first group to win the award. Alabama are the only group to host or cohost the show. They cohosted in 1990 with George Strait, Tammy Wynette and the mother-daughter duo The Judds. (That’s an eight-member hosting squad!) In addition, Alabama lead singer Randy Owen co-hosted the 1993 show. Fellow founding member Jeff Cook died in 2022 at age 73.
Brooks & Dunn
ACM Host: 1996
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1996, 1997, 2002
Notes: Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were the second act to host or cohost and win entertainer of the year on the same show (1996). They co-hosted that year with Faith Hill and Wings star Crystal Bernard. They are also the only duo to win entertainer of the year. They also won the award for best duet on that show.
Dolly Parton
ACM Host: 2000, 2022, 2023
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1978
Notes: Parton was the second woman to win entertainer of the year. In 2000, she became the first person to solo-host the show since Marty Robbins, best known for his 1960 smash “El Paso,” who fronted the 1976 show. She was the first woman to solo-host the show.
Luke Bryan
ACM Host: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 2013, 2015, 2021
Notes: Bryan is the only person to have three separate stints – interrupted by someone else winning – as entertainer of the year. He was the third act to host and win entertainer of the year on the same show – and the only one to double up in that way twice (2013, 2015). He also won the award for vocal event of the year both times. Bryan co-hosted the show five years running, three times with Blake Shelton and twice with Dierks Bentley.
Keith Urban
ACM Host: 2020, 2021
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 2019
Notes: Urban was the second artist who wasn’t born in America to win entertainer of the year. He was born in New Zealand. Urban solo-hosted the 2020 show and co-hosted with Mickey Guyton the following year.
Garth Brooks
ACM Host: 2023
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999
Notes: Brooks is the only six-time winner of entertainer of the year. He co-hosted (with Dolly Parton) 32 years after he first won entertainer of the year.
Shania Twain
ACM Host: 2026
ACM Entertainer of the Year: 2000
Notes: Twain was the first artist who wasn’t born in America to win entertainer of the year. She was born in Canada.Twain’s hosting role comes 26 years after she won entertainer of the year.
www.billboard.com
#ACM #Awards #Hosts #Won #Entertainer #Year #Full #List
