Breaking Features Reporter
The Academy of Country Music Awards — colloquially dubbed country’s “party of the year” — kick off in Frisco later today.
The star-studded affair takes place at 7 p.m. at the Ford Center at The Star and will be hosted by Reba McEntire for the 18th time.
Performers will walk the red carpet before the show, where The Dallas Morning News will be stationed to chat with country’s biggest names and capture any eye-grabbing looks.
The red carpet show will be streamed on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel from 6 to 7 p.m.
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Among the Texas nominees are Grapevine-raised rapper-turned-country singer Post Malone and East Texas darling Kacey Musgraves.
Malone is competing in five categories, including album of the year with his crossover 2024 project, F-1 Trillion.
Meanwhile, Musgraves is a contender for female artist of the year and song of the year for her single “The Architect” off the album Deeper Well.
The Academy of Country Music Awards first arrived in Texas for the 50th show in 2015 at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. The party migrated north to Frisco in 2023 and it’s stayed there since.
“We just really fell in love with The Star District,” said ACM CEO Damon Whiteside in a recent interview, citing the area’s infrastructure and the stadium’s 12,000-seat capacity.
He also praised the energy from Texas’ country fanbase (and those who traveled for the celebration).
“They come out and they’re there to have fun,” he said. “They’re on their feet the whole time. They’re singing all the songs.”
Reflecting on this year’s milestone 60th show, Whiteside hinted at a program dedicated to the superstars of country music’s past, present and future — a point brought home by the previously announced 12-minute medley of ACM songs of the year from the last six decades.
Over 30 performers will take the ACM stage, according to the ceremony’s executive producer, Raj Kapoor. The lineup features up-and-comers like Jelly Roll and Shaboozey as well as established country artists like Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
For those tuning in remotely, the show will be livestreamed on Prime Video and Amazon Music’s Twitch channel.
Uwa is a breaking features reporter. She covers breaking and trending news related to arts and culture. She also writes features about subcultures, music, film and TV. Uwa previously reported on general assignment for NBC News Digital and wrote about politics for Slate. She also has work published in Vulture and Time Out.
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Live updates for the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco – Dallas News
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