2022 ACM Honors celebrate passion and promise of country music's past, present, future

FOX's 2022 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Honors production at the Ryman Auditorium elevated a yearly Music City event into much more of a referendum on the all-encompassing nature of the genre's ever-broadening metaphorical umbrella of influences.

The event will be broadcast on September 13, on FOX, from 7-9 p.m. CT.

The evening was a christening of the next era of the career of country icon Shania Twain. In a season that finds her releasing a greatest hits album, being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and having a Nextflix documentary chronicling her career released, her receipt -- alongside Sonny Throckmorton, a vaunted Music City songwriter of over 1,000 songs -- of the Academy of Country Music Poet's Award offered a moment for reflection and consideration of her influence.

"Inclusion is everything, and I make my music for the world. I don't see limits; I don't see boundaries -- I see possibilities. So I'm a cheerleader for including diversity in the genre," noted the best-selling female artist in country music history.

The moments that celebrated her onstage reflected impressive social and sonic diversity.

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The show kicked off with a spirited performance by Kelsea Ballerini of Twain's 23-year-old double-platinum-selling single "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" The chart-topping vocalist wore the dress Twain sported at the 1999 Grammy Awards on the ACM Honors' red carpet.

"When I released that song, it was [considered] controversial] in the Nashville music community," Twain told The Tennessean. She added that its continued acclaim proves how often the country music industry "underestimates" the progressive-minded nature of the genre's fanbase.

Pop superstar Avril Lavigne's introduction ("she redefined what a female artist could be," she noted) of Twain to the stage for a lengthy acceptance speech was preceded by the Ryman Auditorium debut of Big Machine Records and Songs and Daughters Publishing-signed Tiera Kennedy, who sang Twain's 1998 global pop-crossover hit "From This Moment On."

Twain gave Kennedy the earrings she was wearing before she hit the stage.

"Prior to her hitting the stage, we shared a sisterly moment in a supportive environment," Twain said. "I didn't have that when I was first coming into town. We all deserve that support."

The event was also noteworthy because it was one of the few onstage public appearances in 2022 by country music's radio, sales, and streaming kingpin Morgan Wallen.

Wallen received the Milestone Award for his ACM Album of the Year, winning "Dangerous: The Double Album," achieving 15 consecutive months in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 all-genre chart and at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart. Plus, it has sold more than 4.1 million units, leading to his 55-show "The Dangerous Tour selling" nearly one million tickets in 2022.

After being presented the trophy by his friend and special guest Eric Church, Wallen took the microphone and stated, "me and god have had some interesting do si dos," about his increased notoriety in the past two years for a myriad of faults.

Wallen was celebrated by the duo of HARDY and ERNEST (the former being the ACM's 2022 Songwriter of the Year, while the latter first gained renown in Music City as a co-writer on "Dangerous"). The duo's acoustic takes on Wallen's "Sand In My Boots," "Wasted On You," and "More Than My Hometown" were warmly received.

Another highlight of the evening was witnessing Chris Stapleton's incredible gravitas regarding receiving the ACM's Merle Haggard Spirit Award. After being welcomed onstage by Vince Gill (who performed "You Don't Want to Love a Man Like Me," a song the two co-wrote but never recorded), he highlighted the influence of working with artists -- via Gill -- like James Taylor and Joe Walsh. He then offered, semi-jokingly, "Is Merle's family okay with [me receiving this award]?"

"Merle's written standards, sung standards, and has been a standard. To be placed in a category with him is a special thing," noted the venerable singer-songwriter.

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The evening also celebrated Miranda Lambert's receipt of the  ACM Triple Crown Award. Having now won ACM Entertainer of the Year (at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards), plus wins for ACM Top New Female Vocalist and ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, she joins Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard, Barbara Mandrell, and Carrie Underwood in receiving the honor.

Quartet Little Big Town honored Lambert onstage by performing Lambert's 13-year-old track "The House That Built Me." Notably, Lambert's performance of the song at 2010's ACM Awards received a standing ovation. As well, Brooks & Dunn performed Lambert's 2006 favorite "Kerosene."

"[Miranda's] everything you'd want to love about a person -- fiery, beautiful, sweet, and a good friend," said Little Big Town's Phillip Sweet, on the ACM Honors red carpet to The Tennessean. "She's a helluva co-writer, too," added the group's Jimi Westbrook.

Other noteworthy performances of the evening included Dan+Shay's "Glad You Exist," Wallen's performance of HARDY's "A Rock," plus Wynonna Judd celebrating co-Poet's Award winner Sonny Throckmorton with a powerful rendition of she -- and her mother, Naomi's -- 1984 ACM Song of the Year-winner, "Why Not Me."

In full, Lambert's acceptance speech for her Triple Play Award summed up the evening's passion and promise:

"At 19, I was trying to set everything on fire and firing my pistols on all cylinders, and now I see the girls my age bringing their daughters to my show and I hope we continue that for years to come, because this stage is what it was all built on, this building and this town and this industry. Thank y'all for loving country music."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 2022 ACM Honors: Celebrating passion and promise of country music