Lainey Wilson wins ACM Entertainer of the Year award for second year
The 32-year-old singer scooped the coveted accolade ahead of Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen and took the time to praise her fellow nominees, as well as her fans, in her acceptance speech at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, on Thursday (08.05.25) night.
Accepting the prize from Blake Shelton, she said: "I love every single one of y'all in this category, and y'all have taken me under y'all's wings and took me out on the road with you, asked me to be on songs, supported me in every way that you possibly can.
"I will tell you this: I'm sure everybody deals with a little bit of imposter syndrome, but I won't lie to you. I have a little bit. But I read something not long ago that that just said, 'If something is given to you, then you need to accept it with an open heart and an open mind.' And I just appreciate it.
"I really do have the best fans in the world."
The '4x4xU' hitmaker went on to tell a story from her childhood about her moments in the spotlight at home.
She said: "I remember I was thinking about it earlier this morning — I was just trying to like wrap my head around today — and I remember, my parents had this old hunting spotlight that we used to take off the charger all the time.
"And my sister would turn all the lights off in the house and she would shine the spotlight on me as I was running back and forth across the living room. I dreamed about entertaining. I love making people feel things. I love making people laugh and smile and cry. I'm sorry, I like to make you cry, because I love to feel things.
"Everybody loves to feel things. And country music has given me more than I deserve.
"And I appreciate everybody in this room. My heart is so full. Thank you so much. God bless every single one of y'all. I don't even know what else to say."
The Entertainer of the Year prize capped off a successful evening for Lainey, as she also won Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for 'Whirlwind' and Artist-Songwriter of the Year.
Ella Langley also had a successful night, bagging New Female Artist of the Year, as well as a string of prizes for her and Riley Green's duet 'you look like you love me', which won Single of the Year, Music Event of the Year and Visual Media of the Year.
Meanwhile, Keith Urban was recognised with the prestigious Triple Crown Award and was honoured with a musical tribute of some of his hits from Megan Moroney, Chris Stapleton - who won Male Artist of the Year - and Brothers Osborne.
After thanking them for their "amazing" performance, Keith - who was the first to win the prize since Carrie Underwood in 2010 - paid tribute to his wife Nicole Kidman and their daughters Sunday, 16, and 14-year-old Faith.
He said: "My wife, Nicole Mary, is here tonight. I love you, babygirl. And our girls Sunday and Faith watching at home tonight, I love you both, too.
"I have a massive team that I couldn't possibly thank by name, but I want to thank my team for working so insanely hard behind the scenes, 'cause there's no such thing as a self-made man. I wanna thank my road band and my road family. And I wanna say a special thanks to all the fans that have been coming out to see us play. I really appreciate it."
Other winners at the ceremony, which was hosted by Reba McEntire, included Brooks and Dunn, who took home Duo of the Year, Old Dominion, who were named Group of the Year for a record-breaking eighth year in a row, and Zach Top, who was named Best Male New Artist of the Year.
2025 ACM Awards list of winners:
Entertainer of the Year:
Lainey Wilson
Female Artist of the Year:
Lainey Wilson
Male Artist of the Year:
Chris Stapleton
Duo of the Year:
Brooks + Dunn
Group of the Year:
Old Dominion
New Female Artist of the Year:
Ella Langley
New Male Artist of the Year:
Zach Top
New Duo or Group of the Year:
The Red Clay Strays
Album of the Year:
'Whirlwind' - Lainey Wilson
Single of the Year:
'you look like you love me' - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Song of the Year:
'Dirt Cheap' - Cody Johnson
Music Event of the Year:
'you look like you love me' - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Visual Media of the Year:
'you look like you love me' - Ella Langley, Riley Green
Artist-Songwriter of the Year:
Lainey Wilson — WINNER
Songwriter of the Year:
Jessie Jo Dillon
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