The 61st ACM Awards Were Held On May 18

On Sunday, May 18, country music’s biggest stars flocked to Las Vegas for one of the biggest award shows of the year. The Academy of Country Music Awards were hosted by Shania Twain at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The night was filled with incredible performances from Ella Langley, Miranda lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, and many more.

Not only were there countless memorable performances that people will be talking about for years on end, ten awards were handed out during the live broadcast, with four being given out before the show even started: New Female Artist of the Year, New Male Artist of the Year, Visual Media of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year.

RELATED: 2026 ACM Awards Winners

Despite the epic performances and surprise wins, there were several notable singers who skipped out on the ACM Awards. See them below.

Megan Moroney

When ACM Award nominations were announced in April, Megan Moroney became the most nominated artist with nine total nominations!

Despite this, she did not attend the ceremony. On the day of the awards, she revealed that she was out of the country doing Maid of Honor duties, as her very best friend was getting married.

See her social media post below.

Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll is usually an awards show darling, whether he be nominated or perform, but he was nowhere to be seen at the 61st Annual ACM Awards.

He was up for Music Event Of The Year for his song “Amen” with Shaboozy, as well as the biggest award of the night, Entertainer of the Year.

He doesn’t kick off his Little Ass Shed Tour until May 28th, and after a cancellation of six tour dates with Post Malone, he doesn’t start his joint tour with Posty until June 9.

No word yet on why he didn’t attend.

Morgan Wallen

In recent years, Morgan Wallen has chosen to avoid award shows, despite still receiving nominations, and even some wins.

He was up for Entertainer of the Year, which was taken home by Cody Johnson, Album of the Year for I’m the Problem, and Artist-Songwriter. Album of the Year went to Parker McCollum, and Artist-Songwriter went to his tour opener Ella Langley.

Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney isn’t much of a fixture at award shows these days, but he was up for Musical Event of the Year for his duet, “You Had To Be There,” with Megan Moroney.

But seeing as she wasn’t attending, it makes sense that he didn’t either. They ended up losing that category to Ella Langley and Riley Green for their duet “Don’t Mind If I Do.”

Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire served as the host of the show in 2025, and she was up for Musical Event of the Year for her epic song “Trailblazer” with Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson.

The country legend took this year off the award show circuit, and we don’t blame her! She is busy planning a wedding to longtime love Rex Linn. She deserves some time to relax!

John Osborne

John Osborne is one-half of Brothers Osborne, alongside his brother, TJ Osborne. TJ attended the show, and even presented the award for Female Artist of the Year to Ella Langley!

He doesn’t usually attend these shows solo, so we are adding John to this list. They were also up for Duo of the Year, but lost to Brooks & Dunn.

Rascal Flatts

The trio was nominated for Group of the Year, and had an awesome year of music and touring, but they chose to sit this ACM Awards out.

Were there any other singers you noticed who didn’t attend?