Lainey Wilson triumphed once again at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony, with her four trophies including the coveted entertainer of the year prize, as well as album of the year for “Whirlwind,” female vocalist of the year, and artist-songwriter of the year. It’s Wilson’s second consecutive year winning the ACMs’ top award.

Newcomer Ella Langley came into the ceremony as the top nominee, with eight nods, and she ended up as the leading winner of the evening, with five. Langley’s prizes included best new female artist and a win for single of the year for “You Look Like You Love Me,” shared with duet partner and co-writer Riley Green. That blockbuster collaboration, a career-maker for Langley, also won visual media of the year and music event of the year.

Scroll through the list of nominees below, with winners’ names marked in bold, to see who picked up a trophy in the Lone Star state (or, in a few cases, beforehand, since several awards were announced ahead of time, the better to leave more room for performance slots). Scroll through, also, to see some of the artists’ red carpet looks.

Winning the female vocalist of the year prize once more amid a highly competitive field, Wilson exclaimed, “The girls are kickin’ down some barn doors and I like it!” Later, in accepting the award for entertainer of the year, the singer admitted she has struggled with imposters’ syndrome at times over the years, but said she has come to realize that “if something is given to you, you need to accept it with an open heart and open mind.” Summarizing her mission, Wilson added, “I like to make people laugh and cry. I’m sorry, I like to make you cry.”

Langley also had some memorable comments in her many turns at the podium. “I’m out of breath a little, and I feel like I have been since this song came out,” she said, in her first time up. She saluted traditional country singers like Twitty Conway and David Allen Coe, and said the success of “You Look Like You Love Me” has “taught me not to care so much and to write what you love.” In winning single of the year, Langley also thanked her duet partner, Green, for “writing a second verse that wrapped it all up.” Green, taking his turn at the microphone, said, “I want to say how cool it is that a song with talking verses won an award!”

When Langley returned to accept an award for event of the year for the song, she quipped, “I was so stunned up here last time I literally blacked out. I don’t know what I said – something about Conway Twitty, I think.” More seriously, she thanked God — “In dark times I know that he has put this passion in my heart for a reason” — and Sony Music Publishing exec Mya Hansen, whom she has credited for getting “You Look Like You Love Me” released. “Everyone said this song was going to be the most underperforming song on the record, and she didn’t, so thank you, Mya.”

Cody Johnson’s single “Dirt Cheap” got the first award to be given out during the show, for song of the year, with the award being shared with Josh Phillips — whom Johnson noted in his speech was the sole writer on the song (a rarity in country nowadays).

Following that, in some of the least surprising developments of the night, Chris Stapleton reprised his customary win as male vocalist of the year; Old Dominion won group of the year for the eighth year in a row; and veterans Brooks & Dunn returned to the winners’ circle as duo of the year.

Zach Top was pre-announced as the winner of the new male artist of the year prize, as was the best new duo or group, the Red Clay Strays.

The show opened with a 12-minute medley of ACM Songs of the Year from the six decades the show has been in existence, featuring the show’s host, Reba McEntire, along with Clint Black, Dan + Shay, LeAnn Rimes, Sugarland and Wynonna Judd.

Another medley found stars gathering a tribute to Keith Urban, who received the ACM Triple Crown Award. He was saluted with a medley performed by Chris Stapleton, Megan Moroney and Brothers Osborne. And Alan Jackson, who has been on a farewell tour, got his own starry tribute — as well as an inaugural edition of an award that is being named after him.

One of the most anticipated performances was a climactic one by McEntire, Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert, debuting a new trio single, “Trailblazer” (penned by Lambert, Wilson and Brandy Clark). Although it is triple-billed and no one is demoted to “featured” credit, there was no doubt that Reba is the central figure in the song. It’s about the passing of torches among generations, with McEntire singing: “Dotty and Loretta, Patsy and Tammy too / They gave me a seat at the table and I’m saving one for you.” Completing a trio of country queens, Lambert and Wilson joined her and singing, “Talk about a trailblazer / I’m rolling down the road you paved.”

Other performers included Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Johnson, Langley, Eric Church, Jelly Roll, Kelsea Ballerini, Rascal Flatts, Shaboozey and Top.

Just behind Langley’s eight nominations were Wilson, Cody Johnson and Morgan Wallen, tied with seven each. Stapleton was close behind that pack with six noms, followed by Post Malone and Riley Green with five each, and Ballerini with four. Ultimately, Wallen and Malone were shut out.

The 2025 ACMs were streamed live exclusively for a global audience across approximately 240 countries and territories on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys.

A full list of the ACMs’ 2025 nominations, with winners marked in bold as they come up in the ceremony:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

DUO OF THE YEAR

GROUP OF THE YEAR

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

ALBUM OF THE YEAR (Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s))

SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s))

SONG OF THE YEAR (Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s))

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR (Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s))

VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR (Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s))

ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR