HARDY and Lainey Wilson were the leading nominees going into Thursday night’s (May 11) ACM Awards and they were the top winners coming out. Both took home four awards, including music event of the year and visual media of the year for their dark duet, “Wait in the Truck.”
But they were far from the only artists snagging trophies. Cole Swindell was also a multiple winner for his hit, “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” which grabbed both song and single of the year. Ashley Gorley was a double winner, sharing in the song of the year honor, while also being named songwriter of the year.
The show, which took place at The Star at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, was hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, and aired for the second consecutive year on Amazon’s Prime Video.
The fast-paced, two-hour ceremony featured performances from Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll, Wilson, Hardy, Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood, Ashley McBryde, Miranda Lambert and a slew of other artists. One of the few no-shows was entertainer of the year nominee and male artist of the year winner Morgan Wallen, who earlier this week was ordered by doctors to go on vocal rest and postpone his next six weeks’ worth of shows, including his ACM Awards performance.
From Wilson to HARDY and Swindell to entertainer of the year Chris Stapleton, Brothers Osborne and Old Dominion, many of the winners came backstage to chat with Billboard about their victories and what was coming next for them after a night of celebrating.
Nothing and no one can stop Ed Sheeran from reigning over the Australian albums chart with – (subtract via Atlantic/Warner).
The English singer and songwriter sprints to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published May 12, for a perfect six-from-six leaders in these parts.
The chart summit is a familiar place for Sheeran. In his career to date, he has logged a total of 43 weeks at No. 1.
The final album in Sheeran’s mathematics-themed collection, subtract follows + (plus) in 2012, X (multiply) in 2014, ÷ (divide) in 2017, No. 6 Collaborations Project in 2019, and = (equals) in 2019 by going all the way to the top.
Sheeran has a seemingly unbreakable bond with Australia. When his – = ÷ x Tour (pronounced The Mathematics Tour) passed through earlier in the year, the Brit established multiple records. With 105,000 tickets sold for a concert at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he set the new mark for attendance at a ticketed concert. He shattered his own record the following night, with 109,500 tickets sold.
The “Shape of You” singer also holds the all-time record for tickets sold on a single tour, set when his 2018 Divide tour, produced by Frontier Touring, passed the one million milestone for the first time.
Meanwhile, homegrown indie band Pacific Avenue flourishes with Flowers (BMG/ADA), the Gerringong four-piece’s full length debut LP, new at No. 3.
Rapper Big Twisty (real name: Dom Littrich) says a top 3 start “is probably the most surreal feeling we have felt yet since starting Pacific Avenue in 2017. I remember growing up and hearing about top 10 ARIA albums and seeing all of my idols named among the list.”
Following a lap of the country for the World Is A Vampire festival with Jane’s Addiction, Amyl & The Sniffers, and others, the Smashing Pumpkins debut at No. 5 with ATUM (Orchard), the final part of a rock trilogy.
Further down the list, Australian country artist Brad Cox bows at No. 7 with Acres (Sony), his third album. That’s a new peak and a first-ever top 10 appearance for Cox, besting the No. 12 peak for 2020’s My Mind’s Projection.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” (Republic/Universal) locks up a fifth consecutive week at No. 1.
With subtract dominating the albums chart, a string of tracks from it, and earlier Sheeran works, impact the singles survey. “Eyes Closed,” the first release from the new LP, lifts 21-7, while “Curtains” opens at No. 24 — the highest debut on the latest frame. That’s Sheeran’s 66th appearance in the top 100, ARIA reports.
Elsewhere, “Shivers” improves 24-22, “Bad Habits” gains 46-40, “Boat” rides up the chart 99-48, 2017’s “Perfect” lifts 60-55, 2014’s “Thinking Out Loud” reenters at No. 79, and his monster hit from 2017 “Shape Of You” returns at No. 81.
The saying goes that everything is bigger in Texas, and this year’s ACM Awards went big on starpower and hit songs.
Hosted by Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton, this year’s show offered collaborations galore, such as the stirring anthem “Bonfire at Tina’s,” from Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark, Pillbox Patti, and Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne, as well as the Lainey Wilson/Jelly Roll collab on Jelly Roll’s “Save Me” (followed by Wilson’s own sizzling solo rendition of “Grease”), but also heartfelt solo performances from artists including Miranda Lambert (“Carousel”) and Jordan Davis (“Next Thing You Know”).
It also cemented the impact of several rising artists and some of the genre’s most-performed songs. The show was held at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, and livestreamed via Amazon Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch.
HARDY, Lainey Wilson, Cole Swindell and Chris Stapleton were among the big winners during the evening, with Stapleton scooping entertainer of the year. Wilson, HARDY and Swindell each won multiple honors — among them, Wilson’s wins for album and female artist, Swindell’s trophies for song and single of the year (both for “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” which interpolates the 1996 Jo Dee Messina hit “Heads Carolina, Tails California”) and HARDY’s honors for artist-writer of the year and music event of the year (the latter for “wait in the truck” with Wilson). Meanwhile, Stapleton took home his first ACM entertainer of the year honor.
Here, Billboard looks at some of the evening’s top moments:
Tommy Castro won the B.B. King entertainer of the year award for the second year in a row at the 44th Annual Blues Music Awards, which were held at the Renasant Convention Center in Memphis on Thursday May 11.
The evening’s other top award winners were Buddy Guy, Albert Castiglia and John Németh, with two awards each. Guy’s The Blues Don’t Lie picked up album of the year and contemporary blues album. Castiglia won blues rock album (I Got Love) as well as blues rock artist. Németh won traditional blues album (May Be the Last Time) as well as instrumentalist harmonica.
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The double wins for Guy’s album make up for its Grammy loss in February. The album was nominated for best traditional blues album but lost to Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder’s Get on Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. Likewise, Charlie Musselwhite’s Mississippi Son won here for acoustic blues album after losing at the Grammys for best traditional blues album.
For the fourth consecutive year, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram took home contemporary blues male artist. Other artists who held on to their crowns for a second year in a row were Castiglia – blues rock artist; Danielle Nicole – instrumentalist bass, Curtis Salgado – soul blues male artist; and Sue Foley – traditional blues female artist (Koko Taylor award).
First-time winners were Laura Chavez – instrumentalist guitar; Thornetta Davis – soul blues female; and Dylan Triplett – best emerging artist album for Who is He?.
Tedeschi Trucks Band won band of the year for the third time.
In a nice touch, three awards are named after late blues legends. The entertainer of the year award is named after B.B. King, who died in 2015. The award for traditional blues female artist is named after Koko Taylor, who died in 2009. The award for instrumentalist – piano is named after Pinetop Perkins, who died in 2011.
Here’s a complete list of winners for the 2023 Blues Music Awards.
B.B. King entertainer of the year
Sugaray Rayford
WINNER: Tommy Castro
Eric Gales
Bobby Rush
Mr. Sipp (Castro Coleman)
Band of the year
Anthony Geraci & The Boton Blues Allstars
John Németh and the Blue Dreamers
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
Southern Avenue
WINNER: Tedeschi Trucks Band
Song of the year
Altered Five Blues Band “Great Minds Drink Alike” (Jeff Schroedl)
WINNER: Buddy Guy “The Blues Don’t Lie” (Tom Hambridge)
Eric Gales “I Want My Crown” (Eric Gales, Joe Bonamassa)
John Németh “The Last Time” (John Németh)
Shemekia Copeland “Too Far to Be Gone” (John Hahn/Will Kimbrough)
Best emerging artist album
Blue Moon Marquee / Scream, Holler & Howl
DaShawn Hickman / Drums, Roots & Steel
WINNER: Dylan Triplett / Who Is He?
Jose Ramirez / Major League Blues
Yates McKendree / Buchanan Lane
Acoustic blues album
WINNER: Charlie Musselwhite / Mississippi Son
Corey Harris / The Insurrection Blues
Duwayne Burnside / Acoustic Burnside
Harrison Kennedy / Thanks for Tomorrow
Rory Block / Ain’t Nobody Worried
Blues rock album
WINNER: Albert Castiglia / I Got Love
Bernard Allison / Highs & Lows
Colin James / Open Road
Eric Gales / Crown
Tinsley Ellis / Devil May Care
Contemporary blues album
WINNER: Buddy Guy / The Blues Don’t Lie
Diunna Greenleaf / I Ain’t Playin’
Janiva Magness / Hard to Kill
Larry McCray / Blues Without You
Shemekia Copeland / Done Come Too Far
Soul blues album
Kat Riggins / Progeny
Kirk Fletcher / Heartache by the Pound
WINNER: Sugaray Rayford / In Too Deep
The Love Light Orchestra / Leave the Light On
Trudy Lynn / Golden Girl
Traditional blues album
Kenny Neal / Straight From the Heart
Bob Corritore / Bob Borritore & Friends: You Shocked Me
Duke Robillard / They Called it Rhythm & Blues
WINNER: John Németh / May Be the Last Time
John Primer / Hard Times
Acoustic blues artist
WINNER: Doug MacLeod
Guy Davis
Harrison Kennedy
Rhiannon Giddens
Rory Block
Blues rock artist
Walter Trout
WINNER: Albert Castiglia
Tommy Castro
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Tinsley Ellis
Contemporary blues female artist
WINNER: Ruthie Foster
Beth Hart
Janiva Magness
Teresa James
Vanessa Collier
Contemporary blues male artist
Selwyn Birchwood
Chris Cain
WINNER: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Ronnie Baker Brooks
Mr. Sipp (Castro Coleman)
Soul blues female artist
Annika Chambers
Trudy Lynn
WINNER: Thornetta Davis
Kat Riggins
Vaneese Thomas
Soul blues male artist
John Németh
Johnny Rawls
WINNER: Curtis Salgado
Don Bryant
Billy Price
Traditional blues female artist (Koko Taylor award)
Dietra Farr
Diunna Greenleaf
Rhiannon Giddens
Rory Block
WINNER: Sue Foley
Traditional blues male artist
Billy Branch
Duke Robillard
WINNER: John Primer
Johnny Burgin
Sugar Ray Norcia
Instrumentalist – bass
Bob Stronger
WINNER: Danielle Nicole
Larry Fulcher
Michael “Mudcat” Ward
Willie J. Campbell
Instrumentalist – drums
Chris Layton
Cody Dickinson
Derric D’Mar Martin
WINNER: Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith
Tony Braunagel
Instrumentalist – guitar
Chris Cain
Christoffer “Kid” Andersen
Joanna Connor
Kirk Fletcher
WINNER: Laura Chavez
Instrumentalist – harmonica
Billy Branch
Bob Corritore
Jason Ricci
WINNER: John Németh
Dennis Gruenling
Instrumentalist – horn
WINNER: Deanna Bogart
Gregg Piccolo
Jimmy Carpenter
Mark Kaz Kazanoff
Sax Gordon Beadle
Instrumentalist – piano (Pinetop Perkins piano player award)
SEVENTEEN keeps up its perfect track record on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 13) as the act’s SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML debuts atop the list – the 13-member Korean pop ensemble’s fifth consecutive No. 1, of five total entries. All have also bowed at No. 1. The title sold 132,000 copies in the United States in the week ending May 4, according to Luminate – the fourth-largest sales week for an album in 2023 and SEVENTEEN’s best sales week yet.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of FML was issued in collectible CD packages (14 total, including exclusives for Barnes & Noble, Target and the Weverse webstore), each containing a standard set of items and randomized elements (postcards, mini posters, bookmarks and stickers).
FML was also available as a standard digital download album, as well as via 17 digital download variants that were sold exclusively through the act’s official webstore, each with alternate cover art. Four of them have two bonus tracks – one instrumental track and a voice memo from certain group members – that are different on each album. The remaining 13 alternate digital albums all have the album’s standard tracklist, just with a different cover (one for each of the group members). Of FML’s first-week album sales, 98% were CDs, while the remaining 2% were digital album downloads. The set was not available in any other retail format (such as vinyl or cassette).
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Agust D’s D-Day falls to No. 2 (25,000; down 79%) after debuting at No. 1 a week ago.
The National’s First Two Pages of Frankenstein starts at No. 3 with a little over 24,000 copies sold (with a little more than 15,000 of that sum powered by vinyl sales). It’s the fifth top 10-charting effort for the act.
Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks, Volume 46: Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – 9/9/72 bows at No. 4 with 21,000 sold. It’s the latest in the group’s long-running archival concert series.
A trio of former No. 1s is next on Top Album Sales, as Metallica’s 72 Seasons falls 3-5 (13,000; down 49%), Taylor Swift’s Midnights dips 5-6 (11,000; down 30%) and Melanie Martinez’s Portals shifts 6-7 (just over 7,000; down 47%).
ILLENIUM’s self-titled album debuts at No. 8 with 7,000 sold, largely from vinyl sales (nearly 6,000). It’s the second top 10 for the dance/electronic act.
Rounding out the top 10 on the new Top Album Sales chart is TWICE’s former leader Ready to Be: 12th Mini Album (rising 22-9 with nearly 7,000; down 10%) and Swift’s Folklore (14-10 with 6,500; down 26%).
In the week ending May 4, there were 1.827 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 37.5% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.482 million (down 42.6%) and digital albums comprised 344,000 (down 1.6%).
There were 712,000 CD albums sold in the week ending May 4 (down 6.3% week-over-week) and 762,000 vinyl albums sold (down 57.9%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 11.936 million (up 5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 17.058 million (up 27.3%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 35.534 million (up 10.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 29.181 million (up 17%) and digital album sales total 6.353 million (down 12.7%).
The Jonas Brothers released their sixth studio set The Album on Friday (May 12) via Republic Records.
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The Album is the long-awaited, ’70s-inspired follow-up to the siblings’ 2019 comeback record Happiness Begins, which scored the band their first-ever No. 1 on the Hot 100 thanks to its lead single “Sucker.” The new LP contains previously released singles “Wings” and “Waffle House” as well as highlights like the soft rock of “Montana Skies,” the jubilant, horn-blasted “Celebrate!,” the sunny groove of “Summer Baby” and more.
Ahead of its release, the JoBros debuted a bulk of The Album on the final evening of their five-night Broadway residency at the Marquis Theatre and also played one-night-only shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall and The Theater at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.
Executive produced by Jon Bellion — who also appears as the set’s sole guest artist on bombastic closer “Walls” — the Jonas Brothers calledThe Album “the best body of work” of their decades-long career, and referred to the 12-son project as “a window into our lives. It’s the story of where we have been, what we have learned and where we are now.”
In support of The Album, the pop trio are taking over New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza with help from superfan Haley Lu Richardson on Friday morning to simultaneously mark its release and kick offToday‘s 2023 Citi Summer Concert Series. They’ll also head out on their ‘Five Albums, One Night’ 2023 tour across North America this summer, starting with back-to-back shows at Yankee Stadium in August.
Stream the Jonas Brothers’ The Album in full below.
It doesn’t matter if an awards show is transmitted on a traditional broadcast network or a new-fangled streaming platform, one thing remains constant: there will always be snubs and surprises.
And so it was at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards, which were presented on Thursday (May 11) at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Tex. Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton co-hosted the show. Both are past entertainer of the year winners at this show, which likes to call itself “country music’s party of the year.” Parton took home that award in 1978. Brooks won a record six times between 1991 and 1999.
HARDY and Lainey Wilson were the top winners at the 2023 ACMs, with four awards each, followed by Cole Swindell with three awards and Ashley Gorley with two.
This marked the first time the show has come from Texas since its 50th anniversary celebration in 2015, when it was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The ACMs made history in 2022 when it partnered with Prime Video and became the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream. The show again partnered with Prime Video on an exclusive livestream this year. The full rebroadcast will stream for free on Friday, May 12 on Freevee.
Here are snubs and surprises from the 2023 ACM Awards.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
Governor Mike Parson announced a new state-funded emergency mobile app that school staff members can use to alert first responders to emergencies.
Public and charter schools will be able to sign up for the app which is free to schools and users.
The governor said the app would expedite and streamline emergency response by giving school staff the ability to quickly start an alert from their phone or computer.
Chris Stapleton won entertainer of the year for the first time at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards, which were presented Thursday (May 11) at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton – both past ACM entertainer of the year winners – co-hosted the show.
This was Stapleton’s fifth nomination in the category. The award comes seven years after he won new male artist of the year. Stapleton is a three-time winner for male artist of the year, which means he qualifies for another award, what the ACM calls its “Triple Crown.”
HARDY won two awards (as artist and co-producer) for music event of the year for “wait in the truck,” his collab with Wilson. HARDY and Wilson also won visual media of the year for that hit. HARDY, who won last year for songwriter of the year, won this year in the new artist-songwriter of the year category.
In addition to two awards she shared with HARDY, Wilson won two other awards. Her Bell Bottom Country won album of the year. It’s the first album by a female artist to in in the category since Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour four years ago. The album was produced by Jay Joyce, who previously won in the category 10 years ago for producing Eric Church’s Chief.
Wilson also won female artist of the year for the first time, just one year after winning new female artist of the year. That’s the fastest climb from a win for new female artist of the year to a win for female artist of the year since Carrie Underwood also took one year to make that climb 16 years ago.
Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” won awards for both single and song of the year. It’s the first work to win in both categories since “Tequila” by Dan + Shay four years ago. The song contains lyrical and melodic references to Jo Dee Messina’s 1996 debut single “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” and credits that song’s writers Mark D. Sanders and Tim Nichols as co-writers.
That contributed to “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” setting a new record as the song of the year winner with the most credited writers (six). The previous record of four songwriters on an ACM song of the year winner was held jointly by “Need You Now,” written by the three members of Lady A plus Josh Kear, and “One Man Band,” written by three members of Old Dominion plus frequent collaborator Josh Osborne.
Messina joined Swindell to perform the song on the ACM Awards, as she did at the CMA Awards in November. ACM voters have had their eye on both artists for many years. Messina won top new female vocalist in 1998. Swindell won new artist of the year in 2014.
Zach Crowell produced “She Had Me at Heads Carolina.” It’s his second single of the year award. He also produced Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road,” which won five years ago.
Morgan Wallen took male artist of the year for the first time. He won two awards last year – album of the year for Dangerous: The Double Album and an ACM Milestone Award. These awards cap a remarkable comeback from a career-threatening episode in which Wallen was videotaped using a racial slur. Country fans rallied behind him, not wanting to see a promising star cancelled so early in his journey. Wallen, who was forced to cancel six weeks of shows on May 9 on the advise of his voice doctor, was the only winner who wasn’t present to accept.
Brothers Osborne won duo of the year for the fourth time. The brother duo has now won as duo of the year as many times since T.J. Osborne came out as gay in February 2021 as they did before his revelation. Only three other duos have won four or more times in this category. Brooks & Dunn leads with 16 wins, followed by The Judds with seven and Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, also with four.
Old Dominion won group of the year for the sixth consecutive year. That’s the longest streak of consecutive wins in the category since Rascal Flatts won seven years in a row from 2002-08. Before that, Alabama also won six years straight from 1980-85.
Gorley, who co-wrote three of the contenders for this year’s song of the year award (including the winner, “She Had Met at Heads Carolina”), won songwriter of the year for the first time. Gorley is only the third songwriter in ACM history to have a writing credit on three song of the year nominees in one year. The first two were Merle Haggard in 1969 and Kris Kristofferson in 1971.
Zach Bryan and Hailey Whitters won new male and female artist of the year, respectively. Bryan was eligible and entered for a Grammy nod for best new artist last year, but failed to be nominated.
The ACMs made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, partnering with Prime Video. For the 2023 event, the show again partnered with Prime Video on an exclusive global live stream. The full rebroadcast will stream for free on Friday, May 12 on Freevee.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
2023 ACM Awards host Dolly Parton closed out the show on Thursday night (May 11) by bringing her rock persona to Frisco, Texas, with a debut performance of “World on Fire.”
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“Liar, liar/ The world’s on fire/ What you gonna do when it all burns down?/ Fire, fire/ Burning higher/ Still got time to turn it all around,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer chanted in the chorus of her politically driven single over a thumping beat, appearing onstage wearing a long, flowing dress that sprawled across the stage. The garment — which had a map of the world on it and was backlit, giving the impression of a world on fire — was removed as Parton performed the track dressed in a sleek black outfit, surrounded by dancers delivering passionate, fittingly blazing choreography.
“World on Fire” serves as the lead single for Parton’s long-awaited rock album, Rockstar, which is out on Nov. 17. The 30-track set has a slew of her fellow musical icons listed as collaborators, including Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Lizzo, Sting, Chris Stapleton, Debbie Harry, Elton John, John Fogerty, Joan Jett, Steven Tyler, Peter Frampton and many more.
In addition to nine original songs, the album will also feature 21 covers of rock classics such as “Every Breath You Take,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Heart of Glass,” “Purple Rain” and “We Are the Champions.”
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“I’m so excited to finally present my first rock n’ roll album, Rockstar!” Parton previously said in a statement about the forthcoming album. “I am very honored and privileged to have worked with some of the greatest iconic singers and musicians of all time, and to be able to sing all the iconic songs throughout the album was a joy beyond measure. I hope everybody enjoys the album as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together!”
The ACM Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldridge. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
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