ACM Awards 2026: Best Looks, Moments and Winners

Las Vegas had a lot to celebrate Sunday night. The 61st Academy of Country Music Awards took over the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 17, and from the red carpet to the final trophy, it was one of the most memorable nights country music has had in years.

Ella Langley was the undeniable queen of the evening, walking away with seven trophies across five categories — including Artist-Songwriter of the Year, which she claimed before the show even began. The “Choosing Texas” singer-songwriter has been on a record-breaking run, and Sunday only added to it. Cody Johnson had his own massive night, picking up two key wins including Entertainer of the Year. Riley Green and Parker McCollum also took home awards.

But the trophies were only part of the story.

Kacey Musgraves Finally Takes the ACM Stage — and Makes It Unforgettable

Despite being a seven-time ACM winner, Kacey Musgraves had never actually performed at the show — until now. The 37-year-old East Texas native made her ACM Awards performance debut with “Dry Spell,” the lead single from her seventh studio album Middle of Nowhere, and she committed fully to the bit.

The set was styled like a country mart grocery store, and Musgraves opened the number perched on a washing machine — a direct nod to the song’s most memorable lyric. She tossed sausage into a grocery buggy, worked the aisles, and delivered the song’s cascade of innuendo with the kind of deadpan comedic timing that only she can pull off. For the performance, she traded the oversized camo hoodie from the music video for a white tank top, Daisy Dukes, and strappy silver heels.

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“911, it’s officially a cry for help / Y’all, I’m going through a dry spell, yep,” she sang, and the crowd — and the internet — had feelings about it. The reaction was split almost immediately, which honestly felt like the whole point. Musgraves has always understood that polarizing and forgettable are not the same thing.

“If you do have a unique sound or unique style or perspective to offer, you’re going to be told that it’s too different or that it’s not going to work or it doesn’t make sense,” Musgraves said after her 2019 ACM wins for Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Golden Hour. “And that’s, truthfully, just the industry being lazy.”

“Dry Spell” — which she co-wrote with Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne, and produced with longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk — has reached No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100. Musgraves wasn’t nominated for an award this year, but she didn’t need a trophy to own the room.

Her appearance also carried an added layer of significance. Middle of Nowhere, which dropped March 11, features “Horses and Divorces,” a Texas dancehall-inspired duet with Miranda Lambert that put a long-rumored feud firmly to rest. The two co-wrote the track with Shane McAnally, and it debuted at No. 84 on the Hot 100 — making Musgraves and Lambert the first artists in over a decade to debut on that chart with an all-female country duet.

“My heart was beating so fast because I’m a crazy country music fan, and these two women are my Dolly and Loretta,” McAnally told Variety. “And they both switched roles; I’m not saying who is who, but there was no ego in it. They have so much respect for each other, and I got to be a part of what I really do believe is history.”

The Red Carpet Was Its Own Show

Before the performances and the trophies, the MGM Grand Garden Arena red carpet delivered a full fashion showcase — and the country girls showed up.

Musgraves set the tone early, arriving in a strapless black velvet Tanner Fletcher fall 2026 gown with ivory ruffled trim and a sweetheart neckline. She wore her dark hair in brushed-out waves with a small kiss curl on her forehead, added a red lip and winged liner, and finished with pearl drop earrings. It was a full vintage pinup moment — precise, considered, and completely her.

Lainey Wilson, who recently married Devlin “Duck” Hodges, arrived in a strapless coral Marmar Halim gown with a fringe skirt — ditching her trademark Stetson for gold chandelier earrings and signaling what feels like a new style chapter. Kelsea Ballerini came in a cream Roberto Cavalli gown with a corseted bodice and gold foliage print, her honey-blonde waves accessorized with a matching gold foliage piece.

Ella Langley wore a bridal-inspired white corseted gown with a statement lariat necklace featuring a gold flower — a tribute to her album Dandelion. Shaboozey kept it cool in a black leather trench coat, faded matching pants, half-buttoned white shirt, silver chains, and a black cowboy hat. Thomas Rhett arrived in a mocha suit with an ivory knit polo, complementing wife Lauren Akins, who wore a polka-dot Rodarte midi-dress with bow details.

And then there was host Shania Twain, who walked the carpet in a show-stopping silver strapless Falguni Shane Peacock gown — beaded palm-tree embroidery, a sequin panther across the skirt, and dramatic elbow-length leather gloves with grommet details — before proceeding to change outfits multiple times throughout the night. Twain, who called Las Vegas “a place that feels like home,” was hosting the ACM Awards for the first time, and she clearly came prepared.

The full show is available to stream on demand on Prime Video starting Monday. And if Musgraves sitting on a washing machine at the ACMs isn’t the image that defines country music’s 2026 moment, it’s hard to imagine what would be.