Dolly Parton, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs & More to Perform at 2023 ACM Awards
The Academy of Country Music announced the first round of performers on Thursday (April 27), as well as that the 2023 ACM Awards will be free to stream live globally on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 11. The full rebroadcast will stream the next day for free on Amazon Freevee.
This is the show’s second year on Prime Video. The show, now in its 58th year, aired on CBS from 1998 to 2021 and before that aired on ABC and NBC.
In addition to co-hosting this year’s show with Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton is set to close the show by performing the lead single from her forthcoming rock album. The Country Music Hall of Famer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.
The show will also will feature performances by Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Jo Dee Messina, Ashley McBryde, Jelly Roll, Cole Swindell, Keith Urban, Morgan Wallen, The War And Treaty, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman.
In an unusual move, the ACM announced that these will be the “only televised country music awards performances of the season” by Aldean, Combs, Lambert, Wallen, The War and Treaty, and Zimmerman. The ACM also says additional performers (including, presumably, Brooks), presenters and ancillary events will be announced.
The show is set to stream at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. A limited number of tickets have been added and are available for purchase on SeatGeek, with prices starting at $446 (and going up to $2,820).
Previous Amazon Music Breakthrough Artists Gabby Barrett and BRELAND will introduce Zimmerman as the next Breakthrough Artist from Amazon Music. Breakthrough is the emerging artist program from Amazon Music, aimed at amplifying the best new talent and championing them at key moments early in their careers.
Fans can listen to special guest features from Zimmerman, Parton and Brooks on “Country Heat Radio” in DJ Mode, along with new Country Heat Weekly podcast episodes hosted by Amber Anderson and Kelly Sutton on Amazon Music, where fans can tune in to in-depth conversations with guests, including Zimmerman and Brooks.
Fans can also stream the ACM Awards playlist available now on Amazon Music in celebration of this year’s nominees. Fans can listen to country music’s top stars on the Amazon Music app.
The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions, with Raj Kapoor, Barry Adelman and Fonda Anita serving as executive producers, and Damon Whiteside serving as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music. Patrick Menton is co-executive producer. (DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.)
Paul Grein
Billboard