Avery Anna has won New Female Artist of the Year at the 2026 ACM Awards, giving the rising country singer an early prize ahead of the Academy of Country Music’s 61st annual ceremony in Las Vegas on May 17. Anna learned she had won after her performance Sunday at the Lone Star Smokeout festival in Arlington, Texas.
The win puts Anna ahead of five nominees in the category, including Mackenzie Carpenter, Dasha, Caroline Jones and Emily Ann Roberts. She released the EP Forgive, Forget last month and said she was grateful for the support from fans who rallied behind her, cheering her on as the award arrived. That message lands with extra weight because one category has already been handed out before the full show even begins.
The 2026 ACM Awards will be hosted by Shania Twain and take place Sunday, May 17, at 8 p.m./ET at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with the ceremony streaming live on Prime Video. Tickets are on sale now at axs.com. The broader nominee field is still the bigger story around the show: Megan Moroney leads this year with nine nominations, while Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson are tied with seven each.
Langley’s name matters here because she won New Female Artist of the Year last year, and she is back in the field this season with a strong nomination total of her own. But Anna’s first ACM trophy has already shifted the conversation. She is now part of the night before the night, and the rest of the awards show will unfold with one result already on the board.
For anyone scanning the 2026 ACM Awards winners list, this is the first name to know: Avery Anna. The larger answer comes on May 17, when Las Vegas gets the full ceremony and the rest of the winners are revealed.