Ella Langley and Zach Top both recently snagged their first-ever ACM Awards for New Female Artist of the Year and New Male Artist of the Year, respectively. As a result off their milestone wins, the rising country acts have also been tapped to perform at next week’s 60th ACM Awards.
The news was revealed by the Academy of Country Music (ACM), Prime Video, and Dick Clark Productions (DCP), just days after each of the rising stars were surprised with their coveted trophies.
Brooks & Dunn Helped Share The Good News
Top, who is also nominated for ACM Album of the Year for his album Cold Beer & Country Music, was the first ACM award-winner of the year. He was presented with his win for ACM New Male Artist of the Year on Thursday, April 24, before taking the stage for a sold-out show in Wilmington, NC. The winningest Duo in ACM history, Brooks & Dunn helped share the good news with a special video message.
The “I Never Lie” singer can be seen posing with his trophy in a new photo on Instagram. Later reflecting on the unforgettable moment, Top appeared to be overwhelmed with gratitude and made sure to call out the fans for their unwavering support throughout his career thus far.
“I couldn’t be more honored, and I can’t say a big enough thank you to my fans for loving music and loving what we do on the road and listening to the songs every day,” he shared humbly. “It means the world to me, I’ve always wanted to just play and sing for a living, and I get to do that now and it’s cool to be able to get a little trophy every now and then to let us know that we’re doing good doing it. So thank you so much, this is beautiful.”
Top’s win follows the success of his debut album Cold Beer & Country Music, which earned over 3.5 million streams in its first week. He’s currently headlining a sold-out tour with stops at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, New York’s Terminal 5, and Boston’s MGM Music Hall, and is supporting superstars like Alan Jackson and Dierks Bentley.
Miranda Lambert Delivers Surprise Video Message
Langley was already on stage at Rock The Country in Knoxville, TN on Friday, April 25 when a familiar face unexpectedly appeared on the screen behind her. She turned around to see from the winningest artist in ACM history, Miranda Lambert, sharing a heartfelt message celebrating Langley’s incredible year and their close bond as friends and collaborators.
“I’m here to tell you how proud I am of you for being the top nominated artist for the Academy of Country Music Awards this year. You are my friend, first and foremost, a fellow dog rescue advocate, you are a cowriter, you are my soul sister in Country Music and a partner in crime,” Lambert said in the video. “We are gonna celebrate so big in Dallas, Texas! They ain’t even ready!”
@ellalangleymusic1 my first @ACM Awards 🥹🫶🏼 thank you @Miranda Lambert! #acmawards #rockthecountry ♬ original sound – Ella Langley
The “You Look Like You Love Me” singer was seen turning down her in-ears and making her way closer to the video so she could hone in on exactly what Lambert was saying. As soon as she heard that she had won the award, Langley received a roar of cheers from the crowd. Her voice cracked as she tried to hold in her emotions while continuing on with her set.
She took to TikTok later that night and fully expressed how she was feeling in the moment. Tears welled up in her eyes while pouring her heart out.
“Every day of my life, I’ve just prayed about this and thought about it, and literally everything I’ve ever done was to be able to do this. I’m so grateful for the team I have around me,” Langley said. “I’m just really grateful to have fans that are listening to the music and see that it is truth and I’m just a real life human being going through life like the rest of everyone else, and to see the things that I go through is something that everyone else goes through.”
Langley Is The Top ACM Nominee Of 2025
Langley is going into this year’s award show as the top nominee of the night with eight nods. In addition to her win for New Female Artist of the Year, she is also vying for Female Artist of the Year, and six nominations for her massive hit single “you look like you love me” including Single of the Year, Song of the Year (as an artist and songwriter), Music Event of the Year, and Visual Media of the Year (as an artist and director).
Her latest win arrives after the release of her debut album, hungover, which was named one of the best albums of 2024 by The New York Times and Rolling Stone. “You look like you love me,” featuring Riley Green, marked Langley’s Billboard Hot 100 debut (Top 30), her first No. 1 single on Country radio, and made her the first of only two female artists to lead the Billboard Country Airplay Chart in 2024.
Ella Langley and Zach Top will join previously announced performers Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, Cody Johnson, Eric Church, Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, and Wynonna Judd.
2025 ACM Awards
Hosted by 16-time ACM Award-winning entertainment icon Reba McEntire, the 60th ACM Awards will stream live exclusively for a global audience across 240+ countries and territories on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch. The event will take place Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys
A limited number of tickets are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
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