Ella Langley wins song of the year at ACM Awards as Shania Twain hosts

Ella Langley emerged as one of the night’s defining names at the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards, winning Song of the Year for “Choosin’ Texas” and adding to a pre-show run that had already made her one of the ceremony’s central figures. The show returned to MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, where Shania Twain hosted for the first time and Lainey Wilson opened with the world premiere of “Can’t Sit Still,” signaling a ceremony built around artists who are pushing country’s mainstream sound forward.

The ACMs also highlighted how much the category itself has changed. Megan Moroney led the 2026 nominations with nine, Miranda Lambert had eight, and Langley and Wilson each had seven. Women led the nomination field overall, a notable balance point for a genre long judged by its traditional power centers, and the academy said its membership reached a record high of more than 5,000 voters this year. That matters because the winners were not simply a list of individual successes; they reflected where the largest voting bloc in country music is placing its weight.

Twain’s role gave the broadcast added symbolism. A three-time ACM Award winner and five-time Grammy winner, she brought a Vegas familiarity that matched the show’s return to Nevada after three successful years in Texas. The academy said the awards, first established in 1966, made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, and this year’s telecast again streamed on Prime Video and on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch in more than 240 countries and territories.

The performance lineup reinforced the same argument about country’s current center of gravity. Along with Wilson and Langley, the bill included Avery Anna, Blake Shelton, Carter Faith, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Kane Brown, The Red Clay Strays, Thomas Rhett, Tucker Wetmore and Zach Top, plus previously announced performers Cody Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert and Riley Green. ACM week in Las Vegas also included the ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green event at Topgolf Las Vegas on May 15 and ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash at Mandalay Bay Beach on May 16, with tickets starting at $100.

For casual listeners beyond Nashville, the broader takeaway was clear: the ACMs were not just crowning winners, they were mapping the genre’s next mainstream lane, one led by women, supported by streaming-scale distribution and anchored by artists like Langley and Wilson who can move between radio, awards-show spectacle and a wider pop audience.