Luke Combs leads the 2024 ACM Awards nominations, followed by Morgan Wallen and Megan Moroney

By MARIA SHERMAN
AP Music Writer

Luke Combs leads the nominees for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nods to his name, it was announced Tuesday.

For a fifth year in a row, he’s up for both male artist of the year and the top prize, entertainer of the year.

The 59th annual ACM Awards will take place on May 16 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas.

Combs’ eight nominations includes a first-time nomination for Tracy Chapman. His cover of her “Fast Car” is up for song of the year, a category that recognizes songwriters and publishers in addition to artists. Last year, Chapman’s 1988 song won song of the year at the Country Music Awards for Combs’ cover, making her the first Black songwriter to win in the category.

At the 2024 ACM Awards, Megan Moroney and Morgan Wallen closely follow Combs’ nominations with six each, while Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson are tied with five.

Jordan Davis and Jelly Roll have four nominations.

This is Jelly Roll’s first-time receiving ACM nominations; he’s up for entertainer of the year, male artist of the year, single of the year (for “Need a Favor,” which won big at the CMT Music Awards last week ), and music event of the year, for “Save Me” featuring Wilson.

The last time a musician was up for entertainer of the year in his first round of ACM awards nominations was Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992.

Women were left out of the top category save for Wilson. Few women have been awarded the title: Miranda Lambert received it in 2022. In 2020, Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett tied for the title, the first time ever for a tie and the first time a woman had won the category since Taylor Swift in 2012.

Also nominated for entertainer of the year are Wallen, Kane Brown, Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton.

In 2021, Wallen was declared ineligible by the ACMs after he was caught on camera using a racial slur. In 2022 and 2023, he received four nominations. On Monday, he was arrested after police say he threw a chair off the rooftop of a newly opened six-story bar in downtown Nashville.

No women are nominated in the artist-songwriter of the year and single of the categories. Kelsea Ballerini’s “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good)” is the only album performed by a woman in the album of the year category.

It also includes Combs’ “Gettin’ Old,” Stapleton’s “Higher,” Johnson’s “Leather,” and Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time.”

The 2024 ACM Awards will stream on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch Live Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. EDT. A red carpet feed will become available on Prime Video, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch and Amazon Live at 7 p.m. EDT.