ACM Nominees: Biggest Surprises And Snubs

The nominees for the ACM Awards were announced last week, and now that the dust has settled, we wanted to talk about the biggest snubs and surprises.

There’s always some drama around the nomination process, and 2025 is no different. Here are the biggest SNUBS from this year:

1. Miranda Lambert. Miranda holds the record for most awarded artist in ACM history with 35 wins, so she’ll be okay in the end. But this is now the second year in a row she has not received any nominations.

2. Keith Urban. Keith is a past ACM Entertainer of the Year, but he hasn’t been nominated in any category since 2021.

3. Zach Bryan. His album, “The Great American Bar Scene”, reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, but he received exactly zero nominations.

4. Beyoncé. Although some country fans will be pleased with Beyoncé getting no nominations . . . her song, “Texas Hold ‘Em” was #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart for 10 weeks.

And here are the biggest SURPRISES from this year:

1. Chris Stapleton’s song “White Horse”. This song was awesome . . . in 2023. And it won Grammys in 2024. How’s he getting nominated again in 2025?

2. Rascal Flatts. They didn’t do much in 2024 other than announce their 2025 tour.

3. Kelsea Ballerini. This is a pleasant surprise. She has finally gained enough recognition to be nominated for her FIRST Entertainer of the Year award.

4. Zach Top. It’s awesome that “Cold Beer & Country Music” is up for Best Album of the Year. The voters got this one 100% right. But it’s still a surprise for the newcomer.

Categorised in: Country Music News

This post was written by Cheryl Johnstone