Academy of Country Music honors Florida Georgia Line three of seven new awards
The Academy of Country Music has announced Florida Georgia Line as the first-ever recipients of the ACM Breakout Artist of the Decade Award, ACM Single of the Decade Award and ACM Music Event of the Decade Award. The duo was awarded all three ACM Decade Awards in a surprise backstage presentation Saturday night (Sept 28th) during their final stop on their Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour at FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA. With these wins, Florida Georgia Line earns three of the seven all-new ACM Decade Award categories, including most recently announced ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Decade Award recipient Chris Stapleton, ACM Songwriter of the Decade Award recipient Rhett Akins and ACM Song of the Decade Award recipients Miranda Lambert, and songwriters Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, for “The House That Built Me.”
The ACM Breakout Artist of the Decade Award acknowledges an artist that first impacted country music in the decade and has contributed to the country music format in an impactful way. Factors considered include success at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, creative integrity, touring statistics, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
The multi-platinum BMLG Records duo received the ACM Single of the Decade Award for their record-breaking No. 1 hit “Cruise,” which recognizes a single that has impacted country music over the decade. The factors considered include success at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
Additionally, Florida Georgia Line received the ACM Music Event of the Decade Award for “Meant to Be” with Bebe Rexha. The award recognizes a recording performed by artists who do not regularly perform together that has impacted country music over the decade. The factors considered include success at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
“Since FGL’s debut with ‘Cruise,’ their success has been amazing. They’ve blown us all away with recording-breaking tracks and performances,” states RAC Clark, ACM Interim Executive Director. “Once they collaborated with Bebe Rexha, they reached even more fans outside country music. We are excited to award BK and Tyler with these well-deserved awards to celebrate these unprecedented multiple career milestones from this past decade.”
The ACM Decade Awards were ratified by the ACM Board of Directors, following a stringent examination by more than 20 Board members and the ACM Special Awards Committee co-chaired by Chuck Aly and Kelly Rich – from the full spectrum of creative and commercial aspects of the genre – of the most influential projects over the past decade of country music. Like the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade honor recognizing Jason Aldean in April, these awards will be presented only every ten years. The recipient of the remaining category ACM Album of the Decade Award will be announced in the coming weeks.
As previously announced during the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards, the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award was presented to Jason Aldean. The 14-time ACM Award winner has dominated country music over the decade, through success at radio, digital media, sales and streaming, distinguishing events, touring, television appearances, and artistic merit. He joins only five other honorees that have received the Artist of the Decade Award, which include Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988, Garth Brooks in 1998 and George Strait in 2008. This Award was renamed the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award after Clark passed away in 2012, in recognition of his many years as the ACM Awards producer and early host.
