Carrie Underwood is in good company. Sure, a current ACM Artist of the Year has been excluded from a genre-specific artist category before, but you have to go back a long time to find that instance, and yet there were mitigating circumstances.
Although Underwood, the 2020 ACM Artist of the Year, has a nomination for the 2021 ACM Award, it is not in one of the main categories. His fans noticed:
The last time Underwood didn’t get approval, Gretchen Wilson took the hardware home – it never happened during the superstar’s 15-year career. It can be argued that Underwood was among the studio albums (country studio albums, at least), and she only had a single hit in the Top 20 with “Drinking Alone”.
But let’s not make that point – Underwood was scorned as few have been snubbed before. Maybe she shouldn’t earn bonus points for her legacy, but that would go against the previous 55 years of country music awards. She is one of the biggest stars on the planet, and with a Christmas album, a book, documentary and a victory in the 2020 parade, she deserved to be nominated.
She is also not alone. Here are eight more scorns and surprises among the ACM 2021 Award nominations. They include artists like Dan + Shay and Chris Stapleton, as well as songs and albums.
2021 Disregards and surprises of the ACM indication
Here is a list of nine ACM criticisms and surprises, based on the response from fans and the opinion of the Taste of Country team.
2021 ACM Awards Nominees: The Complete List
Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton lead all ACM 2021 Award nominees with six each, and Miranda Lambert has five, including Female Artist of the Year. Thomas Rhett and Ashley McBryde will be competing for four ACM awards on April 18. The CBS broadcast will deliver trophies for Artist, Song and Album of the Year, as well as Duo and Group of the Year. This is a list of all ACM Award nominations for 2021.