Everything You Need to Know About the ACM Awards in 2022: Performers, Hosts, and More

Everything You Need to Know About the ACM Awards in 2022: Performers, Hosts, and More

Web Desk
March 6, 2022

Country glitz and glamour! The Academy of Country Music is returning to Las Vegas for the 2022 ACM Awards, and the show is changing dramatically this year.

For the first time, the awards ceremony will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime rather than a major network. This is the first time that a major award ceremony has been streamed live rather than broadcast on a traditional television network.

The 57th ACM Awards will also go down in history as the first to feature Dolly Parton as host. The 76-year-old “Jolene” singer is the oldest person to emcee the event since it began in 1966. The 9 to 5 actress, who has five ACM trophies of her own, previously hosted the awards show.

The Tennessee native will perform alongside Kelsea Ballerini at this year’s ceremony, performing “Big Dreams and Faded Jeans.” The song is from Dolly Parton’s album Run, Rose, Run, which is a companion piece to her novel Run, Rose, Run, which she co-wrote with James Patterson.

The “Half of My Hometown” singer, 28, collaborated with Parton on the audiobook version of Run, Rose, Run, which debuts on Monday, March 7 — the same day as the ACM Awards. The Steel Magnolias star said she tapped Ballerini to read the role of AnnieLee because she “could bring the right balance of vulnerability, ferocity and sparkling wit to the character.”

The “Peter Pan” songstress, for her part, was ecstatic to be working with a living country music legend. “Just a couple of east tennessee girls getting ready to sing together at the @acmawards,” Ballerini captioned a backstage selfie of herself and Parton at rehearsal on Tuesday, March 1.

Kelly Clarkson is also set to perform a cover of her iconic song “I Will Always Love You” during the show as a tribute to the Dollywood founder. Parton wrote and recorded the song in 1973, but it became even more popular when the late Whitney Houston performed a version for The Bodyguard in 1992.

When she first heard Houston’s version on the radio, the Joyful Noise star was so taken aback that she had to pull over. “When she said, ‘I will always love you,’ it was one of the most overwhelming feelings I’ve ever had,” Parton told Katie Couric in September 2016.

The Sparkle star’s rendition is arguably more well-known than the original, but the song’s author is unconcerned. “A lot of people say that’s Whitney’s song, and I always say, ‘That’s fine, she can have the credit, I just want my money,'” explains the singer. Parton, 65, joked with Couric.