The ACM Awards announced the first round of performers set for the May 17 show, with Laney Wilson, Cody Johnson and Riley Greene taking the first lead.
All three performers have done well in terms of charts and awards. Wilson is reigning as ACM’s Entertainer of the Year and will bring the live premiere of her new single “Can’t Sit Still” to the show, which is included in an upcoming Netflix documentary. Johnson won song of the year at last year’s ACM and will sing a previously unreleased number. Green will perform his hit song “Change My Mind.”
(The Academy of Country Music has tapped Green to headline its affiliated charity event, the 2026 ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green philanthropy, to be held at Topgolf Las Vegas on May 15.)
Once again, the Academy of Country Music Awards will be available exclusively on Prime Video, and this year the webcast will return from Texas to ACM’s old home of Las Vegas. The show will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 17th at 8pm ET/5pm PT.
The host, nominees, presenters and other details of the show have not yet been revealed.
The Academy also announced that Patrick Menton has been named Executive Producer of ACM. He previously served as Talent Producer from 2018 to 2019, Co-Producer from 2020 to 2022, and Co-Executive Producer from 2023 to 2025. He will partner with longtime showrunner Raj Kapoor as executive producer.
This show is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Other producers besides Mentone and Kapoor include Damon Whiteside, executive producer of the Academy of Country Music. Jay Penske and Barry Adelman will serve as executive producers for DCP. John Saad has been appointed as a consulting producer at Amazon MGM Studios.
Whiteside announced the news on March 3 that he would step down as president of the Academy of Country Music in June, saying at the time that he was eager to stay on long enough to see this year’s awards program through.
