© Terry Wyatt- Getty Images for ACM Double winners : Carly Pearce and Lee Brice .
© ACM Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley at The Bluebird Cafe . costume changes , alongside Keith Urban , and early winners were Jimmie Allen who was named Best New Male Artist , making him the first black artist to win an ACM for new artist , and Kane Brown who nabbed the Video of the Year award .
Ahead of the show it was Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton who led the way with six nominations each ( including one as a member of the Highwomen for Morris ) but ultimately Maren Morris walked away with double honours as Female Artist and Song of the Year for Bones .
Carly Pearce and Lee Brice also scooped two , and Pearce was notably surprised to pick up the Single of the Year trophy for her chart-topping duet with Lee Brice on I Hope You ’ re Happy Now . The song also won as Vocal Event , but it was Luke Bryan who snatched the top honour as Entertainer of the Year in a category that was notably absent of female nominees . Bryan was unable to attend having tested positive for Covid-19 in the week prior to the show .
The performances included Brad Paisley ‘ surprising ’ Jimmie Allen by joining him on the stage of The Bluebird Café to sing their duet Freedom Was A Highway with the New Artist winner , and Alan Jackson performed his 2002 charttopper Drive ( For Daddy Gene ) and a
© ACM Miranda Lambert : ACM Rehearsals .
song he wrote for his daughter ’ s wedding from his new album , You ’ ll Always Be My Baby , as a medley . There was a shaky performance by Blake Shelton of his 20-year-old hit Austin , while Miranda Lambert got to perform three times . The highlight for many was a tribute to the owner of The Station Inn , J . T . Gray who died recently by Dierks Bentley and The War And Treaty who sung U2 ’ s Pride ( In The Name Of Love ).
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