It was also a history-making night for Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, The Red Clay Strays and Brooks & Dunn.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MAY 17: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. Ella Langley attends the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 17, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
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Ella Langley won a record seven awards at the 2026 ACM Awards, which were presented at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday (May 17). This surpasses the old record of six wins in one year achieved by Garth Brooks in 1991, Faith Hill in 1999 and Chris Stapleton in 2016.
Langley won five awards at last year’s ACM Awards. No other artist in ACM Awards history has amassed 12 awards in just two years. The old record was held by Hill, who won 10 awards across the 1998 and 1999 ceremonies.
(Only awards won in competition count toward the ACM’s official tallies. Another complication: Artists win two awards in some categories if they also served in other capacities, such as producer or songwriter.)
Langley won female artist of the year, breaking Lainey Wilson’s three-year hold on that award; artist-songwriter of the year; music event of the year for “Don’t Mind If I Do,” a reunion collab with Riley Green (with whom she shared the award last year for “you look like you love me”); single of the year (as both artist and producer); and song of the year (as both artist and songwriter). The latter two awards were for her crossover smash “Choosin’ Texas.”
Langley is just the fifth artist to win back-to-back awards for single of the year. She won last year for “you look like you love me,” her collab with Green. Here’s a full list of artists who have won back-to-back ACM Awards for single of the year.
Langley won female artist just one year after winning for new female artist of the year. She’s the fifth woman to step up from new female artist of the year to female artist of the year in just one year, following Crystal Gayle, K.T. Oslin, Carrie Underwood and Lainey Wilson. But note: One woman, Gretchen Wilson, won top female vocalist of the year and top new artist of the year (as the categories were known that year) the same year (2005).
Shania Twain hosted this year’s awards show, which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show streamed live via Prime Video for the fifth consecutive year.
Here are other artists who set records at the 2026 ACM Awards.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
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Cody Johnson Comes Out on Top
Cody Johnson won entertainer of the year and male artist of the year, both for the first time. Johnson’s only previous ACM Award came two years ago when he won for song of the year as the artist who popularized “Dirt Cheap,” written by Josh Phillips.
Johnson was nominated for new male artist of the year at both the 2020 and 2021 ceremonies but lost both times. (This dream night more than makes up for it.)
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Miranda Lambert Extends Her Lead
Miranda Lambert won two more ACM Awards, extending her lead as the artist with the most ACM Awards in history. She has now won 35 of the baubles. She won this year for single of the year as a producer of Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas; and song of the year as a co-writer of “Choosin’ Texas.”
This was Lambert’s record-extending eighth win for song of the year. She previously won as the artist on “The House That Built Me” (which was written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin) and as both artist and songwriter on “Over You,” “Automatic” and “Tin Man.”
This was Lambert’s record-tying fourth win for single of the year. She previously won as an artist with “The House That Built Me” in 2011, “Over You” in 2013 and “Mama’s Broken Heart” in 2014. Lambert is one of only four artists in ACM history to win four times in this category. The others are Alan Jackson (as an artist on four singles) and George Strait and Tim McGraw (as both artist and producer on two singles each).
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The Red Clay Strays Ends Old Dominion’s 8-Year Winning Streak
The Red Clay Strays won group of the year, snapping Old Dominion’s record-setting winning streak at eight years. That is, of course, the nature of awards shows. When they first won in 2018, Old Dominion snapped a winning streak by Little Big Town, who had won in four of the previous five years. The Red Clay Strays won new duo/group of the year just last year. (That category was tabled this year due to an insufficient number of eligible entries.)
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Brooks & Dunn Win Duo of the Year for the 18th Time
Yep, that’s a record. Not just in this category, but in any leading category at the ACM Awards. They first won in this category in 1992, when they bumped off seven-time reigning champs The Judds. The other nominees that year were Dolly Parton & Ricky Van Shelton, Roy Rogers & Clint Black and Travis Tritt & Marty Stuart.
Accepting the award, Kix Brooks self-effacingly said, “I don’t know why ya’ll aren’t getting sick of us, but we’re loving it.”
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Jessie Jo Dillon Becomes Top Songwriter Winner
Jessie Jo Dillon won songwriter of the year for the year in a row. Dillon, the daughter of country musician and songwriter Dean Dillon, is the first three-time winner (consecutive or not) in the history of the category. Dallas Davidson, Shane McAnally and Hillary Lindsey have each won twice. (Note: Michael Hardy won once as songwriter of the year and once, as HARDY, as artist/songwriter of the year.)
