Host Reba McEntire performs "Okie from Muskogee" during the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)2025-05-08T04:02:32Z NEW YORK (AP) The moment everyone was waiting for arrived right at the top of the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards: a 14-minute medley of six decades of country classics, performed by giants of the genre. Host Reba McEntire launched into Merle Haggards Okie from Muskogee, followed by Clint Black with Glen Campbells Rhinestone Cowboy and Wynonna Judd with The Judds Why Not Me. LeAnn Rimes returned to the ACM Awards stage for her 1997 ballad Blue. Little Big Town tackled their 2014 track Girl Crush and Dan + Shay delivered their Tequila. It was an exciting way to kick off the 2025 ACM Awards, live from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas. In her intro speech, McEntire mentioned that it has been 45 years since she received her first ACM Award nomination and this year marks her 18th time hosting the show. The first award of the night was for the coveted song of the year, awarded to Cody Johnson for his radio hit Dirt Cheap, presented by Lionel Richie.Theres a lot more to celebrate. Keith Urban will be awarded the coveted ACM Triple Crown Award, marking the first time an artist has received the trophy on stage since Carrie Underwood was honored in 2010.The ACM festivities actually began ahead of Thursdays event. Before the award show, first-time nominee Ella Langley won the title of female new artist; the male award went to Zach Top. And directly ahead of the ceremony, Lainey Wilson was awarded the artist-songwriter of the year title by host Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert. And for the second year in a row, Jessie Jo Dillon earned the songwriter of the year award.Langley leads the ACM Awards this year with eight nominations, six of which are from her smash hit You Look Like You Love Me with Riley Green. Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson and Morgan Wallen closely follow Langleys nominations with seven each. Chris Stapleton has six nominations; Green and Post Malone are tied with five. Johnson, Wilson, Wallen and Stapleton are up for the nights top category, entertainer of the year. Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs and Jelly Roll are also nominated for the award.In addition to the star-studded Songs of the Decades performance, Langley, Wilson, Top, Stapleton, Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Megan Moroney, Blake Shelton and Alan Jackson will perform.There will be a few star-studded duets as well. Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts will take the stage together, as will Jelly Roll and Shaboozey. Brooks & Dunn will perform with Johnson.Other 2025 ACM Awards presenters include Shelton, Judd, Green, Black, Carly Pearce, Crystal Gayle, ERNEST, Gabby Barrett, Gretchen Wilson, Jordan Davis, Lee Ann Womack, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Parker McCollum, Rita Wilson, Sara Evans, Sugarland, The Oak Ridge Boys and NASCAR driver Chase Elliott.How to watch the ACM AwardsThe ACM Awards are streaming on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific. No Prime membership is required to view the livestream.___For more coverage of this years ACM Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-of-country-music-awards MARIA SHERMAN Maria Sherman is the music reporter at The Associated Press. She is based in New York City. twitter instagram mailto