Shania Twain and Shaboozey paid tribute to Willie Nelson, who just turned 93, along with the crowd at the 2026 ACM Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
Twain, the show’s host, took the stage with the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and asked the crowd to collectively wish Nelson a happy birthday. Shaboozey took a selfie video of the entire audience agreeing to their request, wishing him a happy birthday in unison, before he presented the single of the year award, which Nelson won in 1982 for “Always on My Mind.” (On Sunday night, the award went to Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas.”)
Earlier in the show, Twain paid tribute to the ACM Awards hosts who came before her as she kicked off the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards.
Sunday’s ceremony marked the country superstar’s first time hosting the annual award show. After Lainey Wilson kicked off the show with an energetic performance of “Can’t Sit Still,” Twain walked out onstage to her song “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” She noted in her monologue that it was 30 years ago when she won her first ACM Award, for her massively successful album Come On Over, featuring the aforementioned song.
Twain noted that started singing at age 8 but she didn’t have her first top 10 hit until she was 30. “I wrote my new album, called Little Miss Twain, all about that long journey, and I can’t wait to share it with you,” she said, noting that it drops in July.
“Little Miss Twain never imagined she would be hosting tonight,” she added, nodding to past hosts including Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Charley Pride, Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers.
Later in the show, she showed a clip of Dolly Parton announcing Twain as the winner of the entertainer of the year award in 2000. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to be at that ceremony because she was out of the country. “I had the honor of having my greatest hero ever accepting the award on my behalf,” Twain said onstage. “Thank you Dolly. We will always love you, and we just can’t wait for you to get back here on this stage,” she added, alluding to Parton’s recent health issues. (Cody Johnson was named entertainer of the year Sunday night.)
While the show featured a slew of performers, Twain didn’t perform himself.
As she wrapped up the show, Twain announced that the ACM Awards will be returning to Vegas in 2027.
Twain took the reins Sunday night from fellow country icon McEntire, who’d hosted the show 18 times overall, including the 2024 and 2025 shows. Twain herself has won five ACMs all time, including the prestigious entertainer of the year award back in 2000.
“It’s one of the rare moments when I get the chance to see everybody and catch up with a lot of the newer artists,” Twain told Billboard earlier this week of hosting the show. “A lot of them I have not met yet, and I’m excited to just be among the whole experience of the ACMs.”
ACM Awards producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.
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