Reba McEntire hosts the Academy of Country Music’s annual ceremonies live from Frisco, Texas
Eric Church, Lainey Wilson, and Blake Shelton are among the country artists set to perform at the 2025 ACM Awards. The Academy of Country Music announced the first round of performers on Monday morning — three days before nominees for the actual awards will be revealed on Thursday.
This year marks the 60th ACM Awards and, like last year, the show will originate from the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. Reba McEntire, a perennial host of the ACMs since 1986, returns to MC for the 18th time. The ACM Awards stream live on Thursday, May 8, at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch.
Church’s performance should likely highlight his new album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, which arrives May 2. The singer-songwriter previewed the LP, a choral and orchestral adventure, with the song “Hands of Time” last week and the hymn-like “Darkest Hour,” released last year to support victims of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina and elsewhere.
Wilson is the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year and recently played a string of shows on her headlining European tour. Her latest album, Whirlwind, dropped in summer 2024. Shelton, meanwhile, is a former ACM Awards host who announced his upcoming album, For Recreational Use Only, earlier this month. The record will be released the day after the ACMs, on May 9.
Additional performers and presenters at the 2025 ACM Awards will be announced in the coming weeks. Among last year’s highlights was Dua Lipa’s surprise performance with Chris Stapleton on “Think I’m in Love With You,” Wilson’s show-opening banger “Hang Tight Honey,” and McEntire’s agile monologue, proving exactly why she’ll be back to host the milestone 60th event.
