2026 ACM Snubs, Surprises + the End of an Era

Little Big Town‘s exclusion from the Group of the Year category at the 2026 ACM Awards is remarkable for them and for country music.

Snubs, surprises and a deep dive is coming, but first let’s give Karen, Jimi, Kimberly and Phillip their flowers.

• The 2026 ACM Awards are on Amazon Prime on May 17.
• Megan Moroney (nine), Miranda Lambert (eight) and Lainey Wilson (seven) are among the nominee leaders.
• This year’s show returns to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Related: 2026 ACM Awards Nominees. — See the Full List

Until this year, they have been nominated in the ACM Group of the Year category in 19 of the last 20 years, winning four times. I’m not sure why they were kicked out in 2012 but in fairness, that was a great year for country groups as Rascal Flatts, Eli Young Band, Zac Brown Band, Lady A and the Band Perry built the category.

Maybe another country group can claim a similar streak, and if so I’ll give them love too. Little Big Town’s impact and influence isn’t fully appreciated yet and it may take another decade.

Aside from Keith Urban, few artists expanded the boundaries of country music without abandoning tradition like this group did. Every album in their discography is a fresh rainfall of authentic sounds that dared to challenge the MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) principle.

And I do mean every album. Mr. Sun (2022) is as satisfying as Tornado and Pain Killer, Little Big Town’s most commercially successful releases.

There is precedent for artists to make a triumphant awards show comeback and reclaim their throne (see Brooks & Dunn) but the Group of the Year category in 2026 signals a shift that doesn’t favor them.

Who Is 49 Winchester, Muscadine Bloodline and Red Clay Strays?

This is a hypothetical question and — as you’ll soon see — this question says more about ones listening habits than the genre or these artists’ body of work.

For more than a decade, I’ve created a Snubs and Surprises list on award show nomination day. Since about 2021, Parmalee has been as reliable of a snub as LBT was a nominee. Over and over again I’ve mentioned that they’re the only country group with No. 1 hits (still true in 2026) etc … It’s still silly to me that they can’t find a nomination but I’m laying down that sword.

In certain categories, streaming numbers are now king. Radio airplay and all the mainstream tent poles that used to decide nominees are slowly being challenged across the board but in the Duo and Group of the Year categories, they’ve been replaced.

Red Clay Strays epitomize this. They’re not signed to a Nashville record label and their highest charting songs have been on AAA and Rock radio, and yet they won the CMA for Group of the Year in 2025 and are arguably a favorite to repeat at the ACMs.

Take a look at each nominee’s monthly listeners on Spotify:

Rascal Flatts – 11.1M
Red Clay Strays – 8.9M
Old Dominion – 4.5M
Flatland Cavalry – 3.2M
49 Winchester – 1.8M

My boys Parmalee benefit from an influential record label but they have just 1.3M monthly listeners. Little Big Town checks in at 3.6M but neither group (nor Rascal Flatts) is trending up as quickly as RCS and Flatland Cavalry.

2026 ACM Awards Snubs and Surprises

There’s a similar trend in the Duo of the Year category. LoCash and Maddie & Tae are two artists who seemingly have a gripe this morning. Preston Brust and Chris Lucas are kind of the Parmalee of the Duo category in that they’ve got No. 1 radio hits recently (none of the five nominees can say that) but a relatively paltry 828K monthly listeners on Spotify.

Muscadine Bloodline and Thelma & James are the surprises here, but at least one can be explained with this same formula. Take a look:

Brooks & Dunn – 12.4M
Dan + Shay – 7.7M
Muscadine Bloodline – 3.3M
Brothers Osborne – 2.2M
Thelma & James – 414K

Please don’t think I’m using metrics to diminish the quality of music for any nominee. Muscadine Bloodline and Red Clay Strays have a unique sound that should be celebrated. Their strong streaming numbers are evidence that fans are hearing one song and seeking out more. Playlists can only get you so many streams. It takes loyal fans to pass 3M, 5M and 10M each month.

The same is probably true for Brooks & Dunn. I could not figure out why they kept winning Duo of the Year awards at age 72 (Ronnie Dunn) and 70 (Kix Brooks) but now I understand. There’s a new generation finding them for the first time. Those Reboot albums they made are paying off handsomely!

2026 ACM Awards — Entertainer of the Year Snub

For some reason, streaming numbers aren’t as important in other categories. Take Entertainer of the Year for example:

Luke Combs – 27.9M
Jelly Roll – 22.4M
Cody Johnson – 11.8M
Megan Moroney – 9.5M
Chris Stapleton – 26.4M
Morgan Wallen – 32.9M
Lainey Wilson – 10.5

That’s eight very strong Spotify artists but missing is Ella Langley who gets an eye-popping 23.8M listeners on the platform monthly. Where is her EOY nomination?

My untrained sociological explanation is that it’s easier to fan a solo artist than it is a group. We can quickly learn who an artist like Cody Johnson is and what he stands for but it takes work to figure out the names of all the members of Red Clay Strays.

The music simply matters more in duo/group categories.