ACM Awards 2023: All About Country Music’s Biggest Party

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, will be streamed live on Prime Video on Thursday from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

HARDY is the most-nominated artist of the night with seven nods, while Lainey Wilson is the most-nominated female artist of the night with six.

Viewers will also experience a series of star-studded performances by Parton, Keith Urban, Kane Brown and much more.

Here’s everything to know about the big night:

Dolly Parton will host alongside Garth Brooks

The “9 to 5” singer is back to host for her second year in a row with first-timer Brooks. Last year, she hosted alongside Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett.

“I am thrilled to return to host the ACM Awards, this time with my friend Garth,” the “Jolene” singer said in a May press release. “While I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with him throughout the years, I can’t believe we’ve never had the chance to work together.”

Parton also revealed that fans will get the chance to hear new music from her during the star-studded evening, which celebrates country music’s biggest stars and emerging talent.

Brooks told Billboard of his hopes for the show, “All I hope that we do as a pair is represent [country music] well.” He continued, gesturing to his co-host beside him, “I mean, you’ve got your foundation and what you’re looking for here. You’ve got talent and class. Let’s represent country music the best that we can.”

Festivities will kick off with a special preshow hosted by Priscilla Block, BRELAND, Amber Anderson, Kelly Sutton and Elaina Smith

Before the show kicks off, fans will get a front-row seat for the red carpet with a pre-show that will stream on Prime Video at 7 p.m. ET.

Hosted by Priscilla Block, BRELAND, Amber Anderson, Kelly Sutton and Elaina Smith, the pre-show will feature performances by Dalton Dover, Matt Stell and Tigirlily Gold.

Fans can also follow along with influencers and country music super-fans Claudia Oshry and Margo Oshry as they share a behind-the-scenes, shoppable look at their road to the ACM Awards on Amazon Fashion’s Instagram and Snapchat.

HARDY, Lainey Wilson and Kane Brown lead the pack for most nominations

“Wait in the Truck” singer HARDY is the most-nominated artist of the night with seven nods, including song of the year and artist-songwriter of the year.

Trailing closely behind him is Wilson with six total, including female artist of the year and album of the year.

Meanwhile, Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Cole Swindell earned five each.

Lambert, who won the coveted Triple Crown Award last year, is up for female artist of the year for a record-breaking 17th time; this year’s nomination pushes her past Reba McEntire’s 16 nods in the category.

If either Combs or Stapleton take home entertainer of the year, they too will be Triple Crown winners, which means an artist has won entertainer of the year, new artist and artist of the year.

Expect a star-studded performance lineup, including Keith Urban, Dolly Parton and Carly Pearce

This year’s show will feature performances by fan favorites like Urban, Miranda Lambert, Kane Brown — and Ed Sheeran!

The show will also celebrate the genre with performances from Jason Aldean, Combs, Cody Johnson, Jo Dee Messina, HARDY, Ashley McBryde, Jelly Roll, Swindell, The War And Treaty, Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman.

Meanwhile, Parton is set to close out the show with the premiere of her lead single titled

“World on Fire” from her upcoming rock LP Rockstar.

This year’s show will also feature a slew of duets by Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood, Swindell and Jo Dee Messina as well as McBryde with Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti and Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne.

For the performances, Pearce and Yearwood will duet a medley of hits and Swindell and Messina, will sing “She Had Me at Heads Carolina (Remix),” while McBryde, Clark, Hammack, Pillbox Patti, and Osborne will deliver a rendition of “Bonfire at Tina’s.”

Your favorite stars will be presenting

This year’s presenters include Yearwood, Clark, Pearce, Barrett, BRELAND, Jordan Davis, Mickey Guyton, Tyler Hubbard, Dustin Lynch, TJ Osborne, Jon Pardi, MacKenzie Porter, Mitchell Tenpenny, Chris Young, Dak Prescott, Emmitt Smith, Tanya Tucker and Urban.

Throughout the show, radio personality Bobby Bones will host a segment of artist interviews and special moments, titled “Backstage with Bobby Bones.”

How to watch

You can tune into the 2023 ACM Awards exclusively on Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday. It will stream for free on Amazon Freevee the next day.