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Mickey Guyton Named ACM Awards’ First Black Woman Host

Courtesy of the Academy of Country Music
Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton
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The ACM Awards have announced their hosts — plural — for this year’s awards show, and it includes the first Black woman to host the program.

A lot remains unchanged from last year, including Keith Urban hosting and the event being split between three iconic Nashville venues: the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ole Opry House and the Bluebird Cafe. But, what’s new this year is the addition of Mickey Guyton, who was left speechless when Urban asked her over FaceTime.

During last year’s awards, Guyton performed with Urban in a moving rendition of her song “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”.

Since then, Guyton has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance. The nod is for her song “Black Like Me” — and is the first time a Black female artist has earned a nomination in a country category. Guyton is also up for the ACM’s New Female Artist of the Year in a field of nominees that includes Caylee Hammack, Gabby Barrett, Ingrid Andress and Tenille Arts.

Urban, meanwhile, is a 15-time ACM winner and is a double nominee in the Music Event of the Year category this year.

The ACM Awards are happening this Sunday in Nashville but will air next month — April 18 at 7 p.m. on CBS.

Rachel Iacovone, Director of Multiplatform Publishing

Rachel Iacovone (YAH-kuh-VOAN-ee) is WPLN's Director of Multiplatform Publishing, which is a long way of saying she leads all the ways the news reaches you (this website, social media, This Is Nashville and more). She began her public radio career covering politics in Florida during the 2016 presidential race. In 2019, Rachel came to Nashville as a local Morning Edition, and later All Things Considered, host before her passion for data deep dives, visualizations, photography and social media storytelling pulled her off air and put her online fully.

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