LAINEY, BLAKE, ERIC TO PERFORM ON ACMS

The Academy of Country Music is turning 60 with a bang, recruiting Lainey Wilson, Eric Church and Blake Shelton to perform at the anniversary edition of the ACM Awards on 5/8.

16-time ACM winner Reba McEntire will host for the 18th time.

This is far from the first rodeo for any of the three performers announced thus far: Wilson has 12 ACM wins under her belt, Church—who’ll drop his new EMI Nashville album, Evangeline vs. the Machine, on 5/2—has seven and Shelton a six-pack.

Wilson, the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year, said there’s not enough “Watermelon Moonshine” in the world to get her to hang with HITS on awards night.

The 60th Academy of Country Music Awards will take place at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, and stream live on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch.

The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions, with Raj Kapoor serving as executive producer and showrunner and Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. DCP's Jay Penske and Barry Adelman also executive-produce. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy, and John Saade will continue as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.

Since HITS once messed with Texas, we’re barred from attending any events in the state.