In February 2021, less than a month after country star Morgan Wallen launched his sophomore effort Dangerous: the double album, captured on camera using racial slurs; The fallout was immediate, as country radio stations banned his music and suspended his branding. The backlash hardly affected Wallen’s commercial success – many fans rallied around him, causing it dangeroussales for by more than 1,000 percent It eventually reached double platinum – but the album was nominated by most award shows, Including this year’s Grammy Awards.
However, at the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards on Monday, Wallen earned nods for Male Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year — and dangerous Really won in the last category. This was Wallen’s first major award since the N-word controversy, and although he didn’t mention the controversy in his acceptance speech (other than a vague thank you to his supportive fan base and “everyone who showed me grace along the way”), country fans on Social media mostly tackled it for sure.
ACM viewers split on Twitter. Some have argued that Wallen deserved the Album of the Year honor and happily declared his win a blow against “abolition of culture”:
Other fans were outraged that “my racist” was pardoned so quickly, as Wallen was already declared ineligible for the ACM Awards last year due to the scandal:
In addition, many tweeters noted that country star Maren Morris – Ally Dedicated She was named Female Artist of the Year 2020 at another big party, the Country Music Association Awards, for Black Women in Country Music — she didn’t applaud when Wallen won Album of the Year. However, public opinion was mixed on this issue as well.
While Wallen is clearly still a polarizing figure in country music, the 2021 scandal has highlighted the need for more diversity and inclusion in the country genre. This acting was thankfully a huge part of Monday’s ACMs Awards gala, featuring many black country artists, including co-host Jimmy Allen, Berland, Britney Spencer, Ken Brown, and Mickey Gayton.
The 57th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton, took place Monday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and was streamed live on Amazon Prime. Here is the full list of the 2022 winners:
General Artist: Miranda Lambert
Artist of the Year: Carly Pierce
Male Artist of the Year: Chris Stapleton
Album of the Year: Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: the double album
Single of the Year: Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Don’t Love You”
Song of the Year: Lainey Wilson, “Things a Man Oughta Know”
New Year’s Artist: Lenny Wilson
New Male Artist of the Year: Parker McCollum
Couple of the Year: The Osborne Brothers
Group of the Year: Old Dominion
Best Video of the Year: Elle King & Miranda Lambert, “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”
Songwriter of the Year: Michael Hardy
Musical Event of the Year: Carly Pierce and Ashley McBride, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”
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