Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic
The lineup of country music heavyweights due to receive special awards from the Academy of Country Music this summer has been set, with Kacey Musgraves, Ella Langley and Eric Church among the stars being feted at the 19th annual ACM Honors program. It will take place Aug. 19 at the Pinnacle in Nashville.
Others being honored during the ceremony include music industry figures Leslie Fram and Mike Curb; songwriters Bill Anderson, Brett James and Jessie Jo Dillon; the pioneering act the Carter Family; the Paramount+ TV series “Landman”; the U.K.’s C2C: Country to Country music festival; and attorney Scott Zolke.
Carly Pearce will co-host the ACM Honors show for the sixth time, joined by first-timer Parker McCollum. Performers and presenters will be announced at a later date.
Presale tickets went on sale Wednesday to ACM members and ACM A-List members, with a general-public on-sale to follow Friday via AXS.
The ACM Spirit Award, given in memory of Merle Haggard for his maverick qualities, is earmarked for Kacey Musgraves, whose recent “Middle of Nowhere” album reaffirmed her as one of country’s most important modern figures.
The ACM Poet’s Award, recognizing a long body of songwriting, will go to two artists being awarded posthumously, the Carter Family and Brett James. The Carters became trailblazers for the nascent genre in the late 1920s; James is known for writing hits for Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride and many others.
Eric Church is getting the ACM Lifting Lives Award, named for the org’s charitable arm. He is being honored for “his immense support of others throughout his career and his notable contributions to large-scale disaster relief fundraising and rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Helene.”
The ACM International Award, for expanding country’s influence to global markets, is being given to the C2C festival, Europe’s biggest gathering of country stars and their fans.
Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” is the recipient of the ACM Film Award, awarding a movie or TV series that prominently features country music.
The ACM Lift Every Voice Award is going to Leslie Fram, who did groundbreaking work in a long tenure at ACM where she was able to champion new talent and especially make way for women and others who faced bigger challenges in making inroads as successful artists. She founded the CMT Next Women of Country franchise in 2013 and, outside of the network, also co-founded the groups Change the Conversation, Nashville Music Equality and Equal Access.
Two major figures are due to receive the ACM Icon Award — Bill Anderson, who rose to fame as an artist in the late ’50s and has continued as a hit songwriter well into the 21st century, and Mike Curb, who went from a songwriting career to becoming the founder-owner of Curb Records (with an interlude as California’s lieutenant governor along the way).
The ACM Service Award, for an artist or other industry figure who has devoted time and effort to the ACM as an organization, will be given to Scott Zolke, a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP. The Academy’s release notes that Zolke “represented ACM in negotiations with Amazon Prime Video, securing a multi-year renewal agreement for the ACM Awards to exclusively livestream on the platform” and that he “was key to the groundbreaking deal, which continues to elevate the ACM Awards’ presence and viewership globally.”
Also being honored at the ACM Honors this August are two figures who were announced at the time of the Academy of Country Music Awards in May: ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Year winner Ella Langley and ACM Songwriter of the Year winner Jessie Jo Dillon.
