2023 ACM Awards: Song of the Year Goes To…

Morgan Wallen / Chris Stapleton / Colw Swindell / Cody Johnson / HARDY / Lainey Wilson / Facebook

What do songs like “Things A Man Oughta Know,” “The Bones,” “Tequila,” “Tin Man,” and “Die A Happy Man” have in common? They’ve all won an ACM Award for Song of the Year in recent years.

Because Song of the Year is awarded to the artist, songwriter, and publisher, some country singers can win two awards for the same song if they co-wrote it! Also due to this rule, HARDY is nominated multiple times, as an artist and writer for “Wait In The Truck” and as a writer on “Sand In My Boots.” Songwriter Ashley Gorley is nominated for co-writing “You Should Probably Leave, “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” and “Sand In My Boots.”

This year’s competition is as stiff as ever, with all songs having reached number one on the charts except for “Wait In The Truck,” which has peaked at number two but could still hit the top spot! The nominees are as follows:

“Sand In My Boots” – Morgan Wallen
“She Had Me At Heads Carolina” – Cole Swindell
“‘Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson
“Wait In The Truck” – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson
“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton

Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith and  the team’s current quarterback Dak Prescott announced that Cole Swindell would be taking home the trophy for Song of the Year, and the crowd went wild!

Cole himself looked like he couldn’t even believe it! Truthfully, we are surprised he was already back in his seat after performing his now-award-winning song just moments before! He immediately thanks Jo Dee Messina for making her song “Head Carolina Tails California,” because without it, there would be no hit song for him!

What a week for Cole. He just got engaged to longtime love Courtney Little!

This marks Swindell’s first award since the 2015 ACM Award for New Artist of the Year. Congrats!

Watch his award-winning song’s music video below.

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