The Country Music Academy announced Wednesday the special winner of the 2025 ACM Honors Show, which will be presented to Nashville’s top songwriters and executives, as well as parking stars in many countries. The ceremony will be held on August 20 at a new location in Pinnacle, which is recently opened in Nashville.
Eric Church, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Rissi Palmer, Randy Travis and Lainey Wilson will receive awards from the team of artists. Mac McAnally and Jessi Jo Dillon represent the world of songwriters in this year’s honors, while Lori Badgett and Ben Vaughn will be celebrated for their behind-the-scenes work in Nashville, with the film “Twisters” receiving their own ACM Trophy of Honor. (Wilson and Dillon awards have been announced previously.)
Performers for the event will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets will begin to be sold to Academy members and ACM newsletter subscribers in pre-sales on Thursday, and the public can purchase tickets through AXS on Friday.
“Twisters” will receive the ACM Film Award, which is clearly not unavailable every year, and it is a project featuring country music, like the film's nationally-centric 29-track soundtrack does. Trophy has been to movies before, ranging from movies like “A Star Born” and “Brother, where are you?” Going back to “Nashville” at the age of 50.
Country superstars Eric Church and Ben Vaughn will receive the ACM Icon Award (usually regarded as the Academy's highest life honor) and award it to the latter. Vaughn was one of the most obvious and longest leaders in Nashville’s music business, serving as chairman of Warner Chappell’s music Nashville until his death in January. Past idol recipients ranged from Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard to Joe Galante and Mike Dungan.
Luke Combs, one of the country stars whose appeal has proven to be the less dominant place around the world, will receive an ACM International Award for his country music overseas.
Record artist and radio host Rissi Palmer will receive every voice award from ACM Lift and provide someone with a leader in ensuring underrepresented voices have a platform in the country. Palmer remains one of the few black women who have an impact on the top of the mainstream country, and her Apple music show “Color Me Country” (now in its fifth year).
The ACM Lifting Lives Award will award Jelly Roll for its philanthropic work and contributions, including his career in advocating high-risk youth, prison communities, fentanyl abuse and mental health treatment.
Randy Travis will receive the ACM Milestone Award, designated specifically for work done in the past calendar years, and the Academy cites his work on using AI to replicate his lost singing voice and advocate for stroke awareness and health care rights.
Mac Macanally will receive the ACM Poet Award, an honor given by Nashville’s most respected songwriter.
The ACM Service Award will be awarded to Lori Badgett, which will be awarded to artists and/or industry leaders who are committed to promoting the work of the Academy itself. Badgett, the midstream tay pillar of the Nashville City National Bank, said she “plays an indispensable role now in most country music in the city”, formerly chairman of the Country Music Academy and its charity and its charity ACM Lifting Life.
The ACM Spirit Award has been reserved for top star Cody Johnson. The award is specifically aimed at an artist who continues to be represented by Merle Haggard’s tradition and citing his success while adhering to the traditional national voice.
In the previously announced honors, Lainey Wilson will receive the ACM Artist and Composer of the Year Award, while Jessie Jo Dillion will receive the ACM Songwriter of the Year Award, awarded the Tunesmiths’ Record Smiths.
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