Keith Urban & Mickey Guyton hosting 56th ACM Awards

Show airs live from Nashville on April 18th on CBS

Fifteen-time ACM Award winner Keith Urban and New Female Artist of the Year nominee Mickey Guyton are set to host the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs), honoring the biggest names and emerging talent in country music. CBS presents the 56th ACM Awards live from three iconic country music venues: the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe on Sunday, April 18th from 8-11 pm ET live/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Urban returns for his second year after hosting the 55th ACM Awards in September. This will be Guyton’s first time hosting the show, who is also nominated for New Female Artist of the Year. It’s the 29th time multiple hosts have taken the ACM Awards stage. Guyton’s performance of her critically acclaimed song “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” at last year’s show featured Urban as a surprise guest on piano.

“I’m beyond thrilled to be co-hosting with my friend Mickey,” states Urban. “I love that finally everyone will get to see her infectious energy and uber creative spirit in full light.”

“Last year I had the opportunity to perform at the Academy of Country Music Awards with someone I long admired, Keith Urban, and this year I am incredibly excited to share hosting duties with him,” adds Guyton. “As I’ve said before ‘if you can see it, you can be it,’ and it’s such an honor to step onto the ACM stage as the first ever Black woman to host the show. Over the years, the Academy of Country Music has always been a home for me through opportunities both onstage and throughout their work on diversity and inclusion. This is a moment of great significance for me and I am so thrilled to share it with all the fans.”

“Following Mickey’s groundbreaking and emotional performance featuring Keith Urban at last September’s ACM Awards, the producers knew that they would make a perfect hosting duo,” says ACM, Dick Clark Productions and CBS in a joint statement. “Since then, Mickey had a stratospheric rise and Keith has continued to top the charts. They will make a dynamic pairing that captures the warmth, humor, and comfort that the fans are looking for, and join a legendary list of talented artists that have hosted the ACM Awards over the years.”

Nominations were announced last month with Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton leading with six apiece. Miranda Lambert continues her streak as the most nominated female artist in Academy history with 68 lifetime nominations as she follows with five.

The 56th ACM Awards will feature exciting performances, unprecedented collaborations, surprising moments and more to be announced in the coming weeks. The health and safety of the artists, fans, industry, staff and partners involved in the ACM Awards is the number one priority. All guidelines set forth by national, state and local health officials will be closely followed and implemented during the production along with additional safety measures to be instated by dick clark productions and the Academy of Country Music.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com