Shania Twain On Hosting the ACM Awards and Why Women in Country Are Finally Getting Their Moment

Shania Twain is set to host the 2026 ACM Awards, and as she prepares to take the stage inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the country music icon is opening up about the opportunity to host the show for the very first time, returning to Las Vegas, and the powerhouse female artists leading the charge this year.

For Twain, hosting the ACM Awards was an easy decision and a chance to reconnect with longtime friends in the industry while also discovering some of country music’s rising stars.

“This is fun to me. So hosting the ACMs is a chance to go celebrate all of the other artists, meet the new artists, the up and coming artists, celebrate a lot of the artists that have been rocking it the last several years that I have not been around much to say congratulations and way to go and all that kind of stuff,” she recently explained. “So for me, it is a chance to reconnect with my favorite genre, which is my root music country and do my best job representing my genre.”

This year marks the show’s highly anticipated return to Las Vegas, a city Twain knows well after previously headlining multiple residencies there. She believes the ACM Awards belong in Vegas because of the city’s global entertainment reach.

“Las Vegas is probably the most international performance city in the world. So at the heart of entertainment globally is Las Vegas. So the presence of the ACMs in Vegas is essential. So we have to keep honing that in because people come from all over the world to Vegas for various things. I mean, all kinds of things. Sports, for gambling, for fun, for partying, for work, for conferences and for music, music and entertainment is at the top of the list for everybody. So we have to make sure we’re always in Las Vegas as country music.”

With Twain serving as host and female artists like Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, and Lainey Wilson leading the nominee list, Twain says she’s thrilled to see women in country music getting the spotlight they deserve.

“I think that the women in country music have always been giving great music, great songs, great performances, but I think the awareness of them being underappreciated is what is happening right now. So it’s the awareness to wake up and say, ‘Hey, if we don’t make room for this female talent, we are missing out. We are losing out. The fans are losing out.’ So this is just a moment for the women in country to step up, which they are doing clearly and shine. Show their talents, share their talents, and celebrate the fact that they are being highlighted.”

The 61st Annual ACM Awards will feature performances by female stars like Lambert, Langley, and Wilson as well as Carter Faith, Kacey Musgrave, and the newly crowned ACM New Female Artist of the Year, Avery Anna.

As a country music fan herself, Twain can’t wait to see them take the stage. 

“I’m loving so much of the new music that’s coming out,” she admits. 

Additional ACM Awards performers include Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Kane Brown, The Red Clay Strays, Thomas Rhett, Zach Top, Cody Johnson, Riley Green, and Little Big Town. Fans can watch the 61st ACM Awards streaming  live exclusively for a global audience across 240+ countries and territories on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the world-renowned MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.