HARDY is the top nominee for the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, with seven nods. Lainey Wilson, who won two awards last year, is a beat behind with six nods, followed by Cole Swindell, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert, with five nods each.

The ACM expanded the number of nominees for entertainer of the year from five to seven this year with Brown and Morgan Wallen receiving their first nominations in the category, while three-time winner Jason Aldean returns with his first nomination in the category in four years. Reigning entertainer of the year winner Lambert is also in the running, along with Combs, Chris Stapleton and Carrie Underwood, all of whom were nominated last year. 

Lambert landed her 17th nod for female artist of the year, which enables her to pass Reba McEntire for the most nominations in the category. McEntire amassed 16 nods from 1983 to 2017. 

Women accounted for three of the five nominees for album of the year: Lambert’s Palomino, Ashley McBryde’s Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville and Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country are competing for the award alongside Combs’ Growin’ Up and Jon Pardi’s Mr. Saturday Night. 

This marks the first time that women (solo artists or all-woman groups) have accounted for three of the five nominations in this category since 1999, when The Chicks, Faith Hill and Jo Dee Messina were all nominated. The Chicks, then known as Dixie Chicks, won that year for Wide Open Spaces. 

Combs’ album won the CMA Award for album of the year in November. Should it win here too, it would be the first album to win album of the year at both shows since Combs’ previous album, What You See Is What You Get, three years ago.

Brown’s “Thank God” (with wife Katelyn Brown) is nominated for single of the year. It’s the first single by a married couple to be nominated in that top category since “It’s Your Love” by Tim McGraw with Faith Hill, which won the 1997 award. 

Carly Pearce & McBryde’s “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” is also nominated for single of the year. It’s the first all-female collab to be nominated in that category since “Does He Love You” by McEntire with Linda Davis 29 years ago. “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” won an ACM Award last year for music event of the year. 

This year’s other nominees for single of the year are Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck.” “Til You Can’t” won the CMA Award for single of the year in November.  

Brown is a first-time nominee for both entertainer of the year and male artist of the year. Brown is the first biracial or Black artist to be nominated for entertainer of the year since Charley Pride, who was nominated the first three years the ACM presented the award (1970-72). The War and Treaty, consisting of married couple Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, are nominated for duo of the year. They are the first Black duo to be nominated in that category. 

Hit songwriter Ashley Gorley co-wrote three of the five songs nominated for song of the year – Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots.” Gorley is the only the third songwriter with three songs nominated in the same year, following Merle Haggard (1968) and Kris Kristofferson (1970). 

Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett broke six-year streaks of nominations for female artist of the year and male artist of the year, respectively. But artists can come back after having a streak interrupted, as Kelsea Ballerini proves this year. She is nominated for female artist of the year for the sixth time after missing out last year. 

The ACM Awards split their songwriter of the year category, won last year by HARDY, into two categories this year – songwriter of the year and artist-songwriter of the year. HARDY is nominated in the latter category, along with Combs, Lambert, Wallen and Ernest Keith Smith (ERNEST). 

In another change, the name of the video of the year category was changed to visual media of the year. 

The 2023 Studio Recording Awards and Industry Awards will be presented at the 16th Academy of Country Music Honors, which will be held Aug. 23 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Here’s a complete list of nominees for the 2023 ACM Awards.

MAIN CATEGORIES

Entertainer of the year

Female artist of the year

Male artist of the year

Duo of the year

Group of the year

New female artist of the year

New male artist of the year

Album of the year

Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)

Single of the year

 Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)

Song of the year

 Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)

Visual media of the year

Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)

Songwriter of the year

Artist-songwriter of the year

 Music event of the year

Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)

STUDIO RECORDING AWARDS

Bass player of the year

Drummer of the year

Acoustic guitar player of the year

Piano/keyboards player of the year

Specialty instrument player of the year

Electric guitar player of the year

Audio engineer of the year

Producer of the year

INDUSTRY AWARDS

Casino of the year – theater

Casino of the year – arena

Festival of the year

Fair/rodeo of the year

Club of the year

Theater of the year

Outdoor venue of the year

Arena of the year

Don Romeo talent buyer of the year

Promoter of the year