Blake Shelton always finds a way to throw a hoedown on the Strip.
The Ole Red Las Vegas partner and Colosseum at Caesars Palace headliner leads the new list of performers for the Academy of Country Music Awards show at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The show is set to broadcast on Prime Video at 5 p.m. PT on May 17. The livestream is also available on Amazon Music channel on Twitch, as well as in the Amazon Music app (tickets are on sale at AXS.com).
Carter Faith, Dan + Shay, Ella Langley, Jordan Davis, Kane Brown, The Red Clay Strays, Thomas Rhett and Zach Top are among those announced Friday morning. Shania Twain is hosting the show for the first time.
ACM Award Artists of the Year recipients Avery Anna and Tucker Wetmore are also scheduled to perform.
ACM Awards week’s lead-up events include:
— The “Whiskey Jam Welcome Party” at Ole Red on May 14 with Anna, Caroline Jones, Jenna Paulette and The Band Perry.
— “ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green: Riley Green & Friends” at Topgolf Las Vegas on May 15 with Lauren Alaina, Randy Houser and Rodney Atkins, with Green as headliner.
— “ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash” at Mandalay Bay Beach on May 16, headlined by Keith Urban, with performances by Ashley Cooke, Braxton Keith, Dasha, Flatland Cavalry, Tucker Wetmore and more.
The ACMs date to 1966, among the highlights of the industry’s calendar year. The show most recently played Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium in 2022, with Dolly Parton hosting.
Aside from its 50th anniversary show at AT&T Stadium in Dallas in 2015 and the 2020-21 show in Nashville, the ACMs have performed primarily in Las Vegas since 2003. Michelob Ultra Arena (then Mandalay Bay Events Center) hosted from 2003 to 2005, moving to MGM Grand Garden Arena for the next 12 years. The show played T-Mobile Arena in 2017, returning to MGM Grand in 2018 and ‘19.
From 2023 through last year’s 60th-anniversary show, the event was staged at Ford Center in Frisco, Texas.
Upon the announcement of the show’s return to Las Vegas, Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside said his organization “couldn’t be more thrilled” to return to MGM Grand, saying the venue is “a place that holds a lot of history and special memories for the Academy. It truly feels like a homecoming for us.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.