![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/P103X7O7-e1775688298481.jpg?w=237&h=147&crop=1\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n(Pleasant) Surprise: Women Rule<\/h2>\n\n\n\tThe four top nominees are all women: Megan Moroney leads with nine, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson with seven each. It\u2019s fitting because women have really led the charts and the headlines this year with record-breaking feats from Moroney and Langley. Maybe one day such achievements will lead to women not struggling so much at terrestrial radio, but, in the meantime, it\u2019s a wonderful achievement that all the nominated women deserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSnub: LOCASH<\/h2>\n\n\n\tLOCASH keeps going strong and keeps being ignored by ACM voters, who seem allergic to nominating the duo of Chris Lucas and Preston Brust, despite the fact that they continue having hits, including the two-week 2025 Country Airplay No. 1 \u201cHometown Home.\u201d Their only duo of the year nomination came in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSurprise: Carter Faith<\/h2>\n\n\n\tFaith has become a critical darling with\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, which appeared on many year-end best-of lists (including Billboard<\/em>\u2019s 10 Best Country Albums of 2025, where it landed at No. 3), but no album or tracks from the project have cracked any U.S. Billboard<\/em> charts. The awareness Thursday\u2019s ACM album of the year nomination will bring Faith and the LP will, hopefully, change that. (It is the only nomination Faith received, which is also a little bit of a snub.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnub: Eric Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\tIt\u2019s inscrutable why some acts are in good favor with ACM voters and then they fall out, but Church hasn\u2019t received a regular ACM Awards nomination since 2021 (through he received the Icon Award at the separate ACM Honors this past August). His daring 2025 album,\u00a0Evangeline Vs. The Machine<\/em>, may have been too challenging for some, but, like Faith\u2019s\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, it was seen as one of the top albums of 2025 by many, yet he remained un-nominated again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise: Megan Moroney<\/h2>\n\n\n\tMoroney makes her first entrance into the coveted entertainer of the year category this year, marking a major new career milestone. The recognition comes shortly after Moroney\u2019s album\u00a0Cloud 9<\/em>\u00a0became her first to debut atop the all-genre Billboard 200. She\u2019s also the most nominated artist leading up to this year\u2019s ACM Awards, with nine total nominations. Just two years ago, Moroney earned her first ACM Award\u00a0for new female artist of the year. This slate of nominations\u00a0reflects just how swiftly her career has skyrocketed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnub: Stephen Wilson Jr.<\/h2>\n\n\n\tWilson earned his first ACM Awards nomination this year, picking up a visual media of the year nomination for the Tim Cofield-produced and directed \u201cCuckoo.\u201d That is a solid first nomination. Still, given that he\u2019s quickly become an industry favorite thanks to his 2023 album\u00a0Son of Dad<\/em>, and his 2025 song releases including \u201cGary\u201d and his Shaboozey collaboration \u201cTook a Walk,\u201d it would have been nice to see Wilson receive some ACMs love in additional categories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise: Thelma & James<\/h2>\n\n\n\tMarried Canadian-American duo MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge snagged a coveted spot in the duo of the year category, possibly taking the place of The War and Treaty, who had been nominated the past three years. They are still considered a brand-new act in the U.S., but there weren\u2019t enough qualified entries for new duo or group this year, so it seems they slid into this category instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSnub: Parmalee<\/h2>\n\n\n\t Parmalee\u2019s song \u201cCowgirl\u201d spent four weeks\u00a0atop the Billboard <\/em>Country Airplay chart, over the end of 2025 into 2026, marking the longest-running No. 1 from a group with three or more members in nearly 14 years. Parmalee earned a new vocal duo\/group of the year nomination in 2015, but despite headlining tours and earning five total No. 1 Country Airplay hits, Parmalee continues to be locked out when it comes to earning\u00a0a nomination for ACM group of the year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise:\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg<\/h2>\n\n\n\tWe\u2019re quite sure when\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote\u00a0\u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d for\u00a0The<\/em>Wizard of Oz,\u00a0<\/em>receiving an ACM nomination for song of the year never crossed their minds \u2014 in part because the Academy of Country Music, much less the ACM Awards, had not\u00a0been created yet. Yet through the interpolation of the classic in Lainey Wilson\u2019s \u201cSomewhere Over Laredo,\u201d here the late, great songwriters are.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnubs: Russell Dickerson, Chase Matthew<\/h2>\n\n\n\tBoth Dickerson and Matthew earned multi-week Country Airplay No. 1s over the past year. Matthew\u2019s \u201cDarlin\u2019\u201d spent three weeks at the chart\u2019s pinnacle, while Dickerson\u2019s \u201cHappen\u00a0to Me\u201d spent two weeks in the top spot. In previous years, Dickerson\u00a0earned ACM nods in categories including song of the year and new male artist of the year, while Matthew has yet to earn an ACM Awards nomination. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSurprise: Parker McCollum<\/h2>\n\n\n\tAfter previously earning ACM Award wins for new male artist of the year and visual media of the year, Texas native McCollum levels up, earning his first album of the year nomination\u00a0for his 2025 self-titled project. Produced by Frank Liddell and Eric Masse, the album spurred songs including the Country Airplay top five hit \u201cWhat Kinda Man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/lists\/2026-acm-awards-nominations-snubs-surprises\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P101G61M-e1775691079902.jpg?w=1024″] The nominees for the 2026 ACM Awards were revealed Thursday morning (April 9), with this year\u2019s nominees including both established hitmakers and fast-rising newcomers. Women dominate this year\u2019s slate of top nominees. Megan Moroney leads nominees with nine nods, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight nods, and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1873895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1873895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1873895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1873895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1873895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tThe four top nominees are all women: Megan Moroney leads with nine, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson with seven each. It\u2019s fitting because women have really led the charts and the headlines this year with record-breaking feats from Moroney and Langley. Maybe one day such achievements will lead to women not struggling so much at terrestrial radio, but, in the meantime, it\u2019s a wonderful achievement that all the nominated women deserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
Snub: LOCASH<\/h2>\n\n\n\tLOCASH keeps going strong and keeps being ignored by ACM voters, who seem allergic to nominating the duo of Chris Lucas and Preston Brust, despite the fact that they continue having hits, including the two-week 2025 Country Airplay No. 1 \u201cHometown Home.\u201d Their only duo of the year nomination came in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSurprise: Carter Faith<\/h2>\n\n\n\tFaith has become a critical darling with\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, which appeared on many year-end best-of lists (including Billboard<\/em>\u2019s 10 Best Country Albums of 2025, where it landed at No. 3), but no album or tracks from the project have cracked any U.S. Billboard<\/em> charts. The awareness Thursday\u2019s ACM album of the year nomination will bring Faith and the LP will, hopefully, change that. (It is the only nomination Faith received, which is also a little bit of a snub.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnub: Eric Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\tIt\u2019s inscrutable why some acts are in good favor with ACM voters and then they fall out, but Church hasn\u2019t received a regular ACM Awards nomination since 2021 (through he received the Icon Award at the separate ACM Honors this past August). His daring 2025 album,\u00a0Evangeline Vs. The Machine<\/em>, may have been too challenging for some, but, like Faith\u2019s\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, it was seen as one of the top albums of 2025 by many, yet he remained un-nominated again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise: Megan Moroney<\/h2>\n\n\n\tMoroney makes her first entrance into the coveted entertainer of the year category this year, marking a major new career milestone. The recognition comes shortly after Moroney\u2019s album\u00a0Cloud 9<\/em>\u00a0became her first to debut atop the all-genre Billboard 200. She\u2019s also the most nominated artist leading up to this year\u2019s ACM Awards, with nine total nominations. Just two years ago, Moroney earned her first ACM Award\u00a0for new female artist of the year. This slate of nominations\u00a0reflects just how swiftly her career has skyrocketed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnub: Stephen Wilson Jr.<\/h2>\n\n\n\tWilson earned his first ACM Awards nomination this year, picking up a visual media of the year nomination for the Tim Cofield-produced and directed \u201cCuckoo.\u201d That is a solid first nomination. Still, given that he\u2019s quickly become an industry favorite thanks to his 2023 album\u00a0Son of Dad<\/em>, and his 2025 song releases including \u201cGary\u201d and his Shaboozey collaboration \u201cTook a Walk,\u201d it would have been nice to see Wilson receive some ACMs love in additional categories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise: Thelma & James<\/h2>\n\n\n\tMarried Canadian-American duo MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge snagged a coveted spot in the duo of the year category, possibly taking the place of The War and Treaty, who had been nominated the past three years. They are still considered a brand-new act in the U.S., but there weren\u2019t enough qualified entries for new duo or group this year, so it seems they slid into this category instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSnub: Parmalee<\/h2>\n\n\n\t Parmalee\u2019s song \u201cCowgirl\u201d spent four weeks\u00a0atop the Billboard <\/em>Country Airplay chart, over the end of 2025 into 2026, marking the longest-running No. 1 from a group with three or more members in nearly 14 years. Parmalee earned a new vocal duo\/group of the year nomination in 2015, but despite headlining tours and earning five total No. 1 Country Airplay hits, Parmalee continues to be locked out when it comes to earning\u00a0a nomination for ACM group of the year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise:\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg<\/h2>\n\n\n\tWe\u2019re quite sure when\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote\u00a0\u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d for\u00a0The<\/em>Wizard of Oz,\u00a0<\/em>receiving an ACM nomination for song of the year never crossed their minds \u2014 in part because the Academy of Country Music, much less the ACM Awards, had not\u00a0been created yet. Yet through the interpolation of the classic in Lainey Wilson\u2019s \u201cSomewhere Over Laredo,\u201d here the late, great songwriters are.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnubs: Russell Dickerson, Chase Matthew<\/h2>\n\n\n\tBoth Dickerson and Matthew earned multi-week Country Airplay No. 1s over the past year. Matthew\u2019s \u201cDarlin\u2019\u201d spent three weeks at the chart\u2019s pinnacle, while Dickerson\u2019s \u201cHappen\u00a0to Me\u201d spent two weeks in the top spot. In previous years, Dickerson\u00a0earned ACM nods in categories including song of the year and new male artist of the year, while Matthew has yet to earn an ACM Awards nomination. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSurprise: Parker McCollum<\/h2>\n\n\n\tAfter previously earning ACM Award wins for new male artist of the year and visual media of the year, Texas native McCollum levels up, earning his first album of the year nomination\u00a0for his 2025 self-titled project. Produced by Frank Liddell and Eric Masse, the album spurred songs including the Country Airplay top five hit \u201cWhat Kinda Man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/lists\/2026-acm-awards-nominations-snubs-surprises\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P101G61M-e1775691079902.jpg?w=1024″] The nominees for the 2026 ACM Awards were revealed Thursday morning (April 9), with this year\u2019s nominees including both established hitmakers and fast-rising newcomers. Women dominate this year\u2019s slate of top nominees. Megan Moroney leads nominees with nine nods, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight nods, and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1873895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1873895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1873895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1873895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1873895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tLOCASH keeps going strong and keeps being ignored by ACM voters, who seem allergic to nominating the duo of Chris Lucas and Preston Brust, despite the fact that they continue having hits, including the two-week 2025 Country Airplay No. 1 \u201cHometown Home.\u201d Their only duo of the year nomination came in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
Surprise: Carter Faith<\/h2>\n\n\n\tFaith has become a critical darling with\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, which appeared on many year-end best-of lists (including Billboard<\/em>\u2019s 10 Best Country Albums of 2025, where it landed at No. 3), but no album or tracks from the project have cracked any U.S. Billboard<\/em> charts. The awareness Thursday\u2019s ACM album of the year nomination will bring Faith and the LP will, hopefully, change that. (It is the only nomination Faith received, which is also a little bit of a snub.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnub: Eric Church<\/h2>\n\n\n\tIt\u2019s inscrutable why some acts are in good favor with ACM voters and then they fall out, but Church hasn\u2019t received a regular ACM Awards nomination since 2021 (through he received the Icon Award at the separate ACM Honors this past August). His daring 2025 album,\u00a0Evangeline Vs. The Machine<\/em>, may have been too challenging for some, but, like Faith\u2019s\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, it was seen as one of the top albums of 2025 by many, yet he remained un-nominated again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise: Megan Moroney<\/h2>\n\n\n\tMoroney makes her first entrance into the coveted entertainer of the year category this year, marking a major new career milestone. The recognition comes shortly after Moroney\u2019s album\u00a0Cloud 9<\/em>\u00a0became her first to debut atop the all-genre Billboard 200. She\u2019s also the most nominated artist leading up to this year\u2019s ACM Awards, with nine total nominations. Just two years ago, Moroney earned her first ACM Award\u00a0for new female artist of the year. This slate of nominations\u00a0reflects just how swiftly her career has skyrocketed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnub: Stephen Wilson Jr.<\/h2>\n\n\n\tWilson earned his first ACM Awards nomination this year, picking up a visual media of the year nomination for the Tim Cofield-produced and directed \u201cCuckoo.\u201d That is a solid first nomination. Still, given that he\u2019s quickly become an industry favorite thanks to his 2023 album\u00a0Son of Dad<\/em>, and his 2025 song releases including \u201cGary\u201d and his Shaboozey collaboration \u201cTook a Walk,\u201d it would have been nice to see Wilson receive some ACMs love in additional categories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise: Thelma & James<\/h2>\n\n\n\tMarried Canadian-American duo MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge snagged a coveted spot in the duo of the year category, possibly taking the place of The War and Treaty, who had been nominated the past three years. They are still considered a brand-new act in the U.S., but there weren\u2019t enough qualified entries for new duo or group this year, so it seems they slid into this category instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSnub: Parmalee<\/h2>\n\n\n\t Parmalee\u2019s song \u201cCowgirl\u201d spent four weeks\u00a0atop the Billboard <\/em>Country Airplay chart, over the end of 2025 into 2026, marking the longest-running No. 1 from a group with three or more members in nearly 14 years. Parmalee earned a new vocal duo\/group of the year nomination in 2015, but despite headlining tours and earning five total No. 1 Country Airplay hits, Parmalee continues to be locked out when it comes to earning\u00a0a nomination for ACM group of the year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSurprise:\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg<\/h2>\n\n\n\tWe\u2019re quite sure when\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote\u00a0\u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d for\u00a0The<\/em>Wizard of Oz,\u00a0<\/em>receiving an ACM nomination for song of the year never crossed their minds \u2014 in part because the Academy of Country Music, much less the ACM Awards, had not\u00a0been created yet. Yet through the interpolation of the classic in Lainey Wilson\u2019s \u201cSomewhere Over Laredo,\u201d here the late, great songwriters are.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nSnubs: Russell Dickerson, Chase Matthew<\/h2>\n\n\n\tBoth Dickerson and Matthew earned multi-week Country Airplay No. 1s over the past year. Matthew\u2019s \u201cDarlin\u2019\u201d spent three weeks at the chart\u2019s pinnacle, while Dickerson\u2019s \u201cHappen\u00a0to Me\u201d spent two weeks in the top spot. In previous years, Dickerson\u00a0earned ACM nods in categories including song of the year and new male artist of the year, while Matthew has yet to earn an ACM Awards nomination. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nSurprise: Parker McCollum<\/h2>\n\n\n\tAfter previously earning ACM Award wins for new male artist of the year and visual media of the year, Texas native McCollum levels up, earning his first album of the year nomination\u00a0for his 2025 self-titled project. Produced by Frank Liddell and Eric Masse, the album spurred songs including the Country Airplay top five hit \u201cWhat Kinda Man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/lists\/2026-acm-awards-nominations-snubs-surprises\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P101G61M-e1775691079902.jpg?w=1024″] The nominees for the 2026 ACM Awards were revealed Thursday morning (April 9), with this year\u2019s nominees including both established hitmakers and fast-rising newcomers. Women dominate this year\u2019s slate of top nominees. Megan Moroney leads nominees with nine nods, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight nods, and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1873895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1873895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1873895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1873895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1873895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tFaith has become a critical darling with\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, which appeared on many year-end best-of lists (including Billboard<\/em>\u2019s 10 Best Country Albums of 2025, where it landed at No. 3), but no album or tracks from the project have cracked any U.S. Billboard<\/em> charts. The awareness Thursday\u2019s ACM album of the year nomination will bring Faith and the LP will, hopefully, change that. (It is the only nomination Faith received, which is also a little bit of a snub.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tIt\u2019s inscrutable why some acts are in good favor with ACM voters and then they fall out, but Church hasn\u2019t received a regular ACM Awards nomination since 2021 (through he received the Icon Award at the separate ACM Honors this past August). His daring 2025 album,\u00a0Evangeline Vs. The Machine<\/em>, may have been too challenging for some, but, like Faith\u2019s\u00a0Cherry Valley<\/em>, it was seen as one of the top albums of 2025 by many, yet he remained un-nominated again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tMoroney makes her first entrance into the coveted entertainer of the year category this year, marking a major new career milestone. The recognition comes shortly after Moroney\u2019s album\u00a0Cloud 9<\/em>\u00a0became her first to debut atop the all-genre Billboard 200. She\u2019s also the most nominated artist leading up to this year\u2019s ACM Awards, with nine total nominations. Just two years ago, Moroney earned her first ACM Award\u00a0for new female artist of the year. This slate of nominations\u00a0reflects just how swiftly her career has skyrocketed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWilson earned his first ACM Awards nomination this year, picking up a visual media of the year nomination for the Tim Cofield-produced and directed \u201cCuckoo.\u201d That is a solid first nomination. Still, given that he\u2019s quickly become an industry favorite thanks to his 2023 album\u00a0Son of Dad<\/em>, and his 2025 song releases including \u201cGary\u201d and his Shaboozey collaboration \u201cTook a Walk,\u201d it would have been nice to see Wilson receive some ACMs love in additional categories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tMarried Canadian-American duo MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge snagged a coveted spot in the duo of the year category, possibly taking the place of The War and Treaty, who had been nominated the past three years. They are still considered a brand-new act in the U.S., but there weren\u2019t enough qualified entries for new duo or group this year, so it seems they slid into this category instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\t Parmalee\u2019s song \u201cCowgirl\u201d spent four weeks\u00a0atop the Billboard <\/em>Country Airplay chart, over the end of 2025 into 2026, marking the longest-running No. 1 from a group with three or more members in nearly 14 years. Parmalee earned a new vocal duo\/group of the year nomination in 2015, but despite headlining tours and earning five total No. 1 Country Airplay hits, Parmalee continues to be locked out when it comes to earning\u00a0a nomination for ACM group of the year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tWe\u2019re quite sure when\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote\u00a0\u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d for\u00a0The<\/em>Wizard of Oz,\u00a0<\/em>receiving an ACM nomination for song of the year never crossed their minds \u2014 in part because the Academy of Country Music, much less the ACM Awards, had not\u00a0been created yet. Yet through the interpolation of the classic in Lainey Wilson\u2019s \u201cSomewhere Over Laredo,\u201d here the late, great songwriters are.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tBoth Dickerson and Matthew earned multi-week Country Airplay No. 1s over the past year. Matthew\u2019s \u201cDarlin\u2019\u201d spent three weeks at the chart\u2019s pinnacle, while Dickerson\u2019s \u201cHappen\u00a0to Me\u201d spent two weeks in the top spot. In previous years, Dickerson\u00a0earned ACM nods in categories including song of the year and new male artist of the year, while Matthew has yet to earn an ACM Awards nomination. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \n\tAfter previously earning ACM Award wins for new male artist of the year and visual media of the year, Texas native McCollum levels up, earning his first album of the year nomination\u00a0for his 2025 self-titled project. Produced by Frank Liddell and Eric Masse, the album spurred songs including the Country Airplay top five hit \u201cWhat Kinda Man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/lists\/2026-acm-awards-nominations-snubs-surprises\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P101G61M-e1775691079902.jpg?w=1024″] The nominees for the 2026 ACM Awards were revealed Thursday morning (April 9), with this year\u2019s nominees including both established hitmakers and fast-rising newcomers. Women dominate this year\u2019s slate of top nominees. Megan Moroney leads nominees with nine nods, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight nods, and Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1873895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1873895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1873895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1873895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1873895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Snub: Eric Church<\/h2>\n
Surprise: Megan Moroney<\/h2>\n
Snub: Stephen Wilson Jr.<\/h2>\n
Surprise: Thelma & James<\/h2>\n
Snub: Parmalee<\/h2>\n
Surprise:\u00a0Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg<\/h2>\n
Snubs: Russell Dickerson, Chase Matthew<\/h2>\n
Surprise: Parker McCollum<\/h2>\n