Not even one single nomination? The Academy of Country Music should be embarrassed, to put it mildly.

This morning, the 2026 ACM Award nominations were announced, and the women are leading the pack as Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert make up the list of most-nominated artists, which is very much well-deserved and I’m very happy to see that.

But one glaring snub, the biggest of them all, is that Eric Church was left completely out of the nominations. He didn’t get one single nod in an category, despite releasing his daring and very innovative album Evangeline Vs. The Machine in early 2025.

Throughout his entire career, Eric has received 28 ACM nominations, won seven, and he did take home Entertainer of the Year in 2020, when COVID kept artists off the road and off of the performing stage. Just last year, Eric was honored with the prestigious ACM Icon Award at the 18th ACM Honors, which is a special award that recognized his nearly two-decade career his significant philanthropic work, like the Concert for Carolina hurricane relief benefit show.

He has also won one CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year, and has been nominated for the top prize four times at the CMA Awards and three times by the ACM Awards. But it’s been 6 years since Church has received a CMA Award nomination, and 5 years since he’s even been up for a trophy at the ACM Awards, and unfortunately, that streak will continue until possibly this fall when the CMA Awards take place.

I think many of us fans thought he might at least get another EOTY nod considering he’s been on a heck of a tour, his Free the Machine tour, since last fall, which put the creativity of his aforementioned Evangeline vs. the Machine project on full display.

The album itself featured only 8 tracks, the opposite of the 20+ track mega-albums that most artists are releasing these days, and was backed by a full orchestra and choir. And he subsequently took the orchestra and choir with him on the road and performs the entire album front to back night after night. It’s unlike anything any other country artist has done, and I very recently got to see it for myself when Eric rolled through Charlotte, North Carolina for his hometown show (he’s from Granite Falls, about an hour from the venue), when he put on a high-energy, incredibly unique live show that gave fans more than their money’s worth in terms of the sheer amount of music he played.

Eric broke the show into three parts, basically, where he started with his band as well as the “Strings and Things” accompaniment, than transitioned into playing fan-favorites with just his band, and he also played a few songs with his longtime duet partner and live show staple Joanna Cotten, who is just a bad*** and one of the most incredible vocalists I’ve ever heard.

He was completely engaged and full-throttle the entire time, and you could feel every bit of that. There are very few artists at his level that give so much at every live concert, and he’s always been that since I started seeing him in concert as soon as I got my driver’s license. This tour has truly been one-of-a-kind, and he deserves a ton of credit for that.

Truly, it’s just shocking that Eric was left completely out of the nominations, and I really can’t think of another mainstream artist like Eric who has been so influential and successful for so long yet seems to still get the short end of the stick when it comes to industry recognition like this, even in terms of radio play and things of that nature.

He has inspired the superstars of today, people like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs have spoken extensively over the years about how he is the reason they decided to really get into country music as a career, and once again a major country award show is snubbing someone who more than deserves, at the very least, a nomination… I didn’t necessarily expect him to win a bunch of awards, but to not even see his name on the list is shameful, and honestly, disrespectful.

But I am content with the fact that my personal EOTY raises hell, praises Dale, and doesn’t give a flying you-know-what if he’s nominated for an award that is largely bought-and-paid for by labels anyways.

And if we’re not awarding that kind of artist, then the awards given out to everyone else truly mean nothing.

This is all no disrespect to any of the artists who were nominated, some of my favorites are up for huge awards, but it’s frustrating when someone you feel strongly about should be a favorite after a hugely impressive year and they don’t even get recognized as a nominee. It can be really exciting to get nominated, especially as a younger artist, at a major country award show, but these awards really should mean something if we’re going to continue to prop them up as a industry and act like they’re any sort of marker for meaningful success in the genre.

The 61st ACM Awards stream live on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17th at 8 p.m. ET from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. You can check out the full list of nominees below.

Take a look at the entire list of nominees below:

Entertainer of the Year

Luke Combs

Jelly Roll

Cody Johnson

Megan Moroney

Chris Stapleton

Morgan Wallen

Lainey Wilson

Female Artist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini

Miranda Lambert

Ella Langley

Megan Moroney

Lainey Wilson

Male Artist of the Year

Luke Combs

Riley Green

Cody Johnson

Chris Stapleton

Zach Top

Group of the Year

49 Winchester

Flatland Cavalry

Old Dominion

Rascal Flatts

The Red Clay Strays

Duo of the Year

Brooks & Dunn

Brothers Osborne

Dan + Shay

Muscadine Bloodline

Thelma & James

Album of the Year

[Awarded to artist(s)/producer(s)/record Company–label(s)]

Ain’t In It For My Health – Zach Top; Producer: Carson Chamberlain; Record Company-Label: Leo33

Cherry Valley – Carter Faith; Producer: Tofer Brown; Record Company-Label: Gatsby Records / MCA

Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe) – Riley Green; Producers: Dann Huff, Michael Knox; Record Company-Label: Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment

I’m The Problem – Morgan Wallen; Producers: Joey Moi, Charlie Handsome, Jacob Durrett; Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records

Parker McCollum – Parker McCollum; Producers: Frank Liddell, Eric Masse; Record Company-Label: MCA

Song of the Year

“A Song To Sing” – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure

“Am I Okay?” – Megan Moroney; Songwriters: Megan Moroney, Luke Laird, Jessie Jo Dillon

“Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley; Songwriters: Ella Langley, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor

“I Never Lie” – Zach Top; Songwriters: Zach Top, Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols

“Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Andy Albert, Harold Arlen & Yip Harburg

Single of the Year

“6 Months Later” – Megan Moroney

“Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley

“I Never Lie” – Zach Top

“Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson

“The Fall” – Cody Johnson

Visual Media of the Year

“6 Months Later” – Megan Moroney

“A Song To Sing” – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton

“Cuckoo” -Stephen Wilson, Jr.

“Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson

“The Fall” – Cody Johnson

Music Event of the Year

“A Song To Sing” – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton

“Amen” – Shaboozey & Jelly Roll

“Don’t Mind If I Do” – Riley Green feat. Ella Langley

“Trailblazer” – Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson

“You Had To Be There” – Megan Moroney & Kenny Chesney

Songwriter of the Year

Jessie Jo Dillon

Ashley Gorley

Charlie Handsome

Chase McGill

Blake Pendergrass

Artist-Songwriter of the Year

Luke Combs

Riley Green

Ella Langley

Megan Moroney

Morgan Wallen

New Male Artist of the Year

Gavin Adcock

Vincent Mason

Shaboozey

Hudson Westbrook

Tucker Wetmore

New Female Artist of the Year

Avery Anna

Mackenzie Carpenter

Dasha

Caroline Jones

Emily Ann Roberts