What Happened Between Shaboozey and Megan Moroney at the 2025 American Music Awards?

As Shaboozey and Megan Moroney - two of the biggest names in today's country music landscape - presented Dan + Shay with the American Music Award for Favorite Country Duo or Group, Moroney drew a side-eye from Shaboozey after reading off the teleprompter that The Carter Family “basically invented country music”.

Once Shaboozey had paid tribute to Charley Pride, who won the inaugural AMA Music Award for Favorite Male Country Artist in 1974, Megan Moroney read, “That same year, Favorite Female Artist went to Lynn Anderson, and this award [Favorite Country Duo or Group] went to The Carter family, who basically invented country music”.

It's at this point that Shaboozey pauses and gives the ’Tennessee Orange’ singer-songwriter a quizzical look, before chuckling to himself and continuing with the presentation.

It's important to underline, of course, that both artists will have simply been reading off the teleprompter, and likely won't have had a hand in penning their AMA speeches, so Shaboozey's puzzled expression was directed at the script-writers, not Moroney.

It seems the reason for the ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ hitmaker's side-eye was this comment that The Carter Family “basically invented country music”. The Carter Family, which started recording in the 1920's has traditionally been thought of by many as the ‘founding family’ of the genre. However, this view diminishes the influence of African-American musicians such as Lesley Riddle, Arnold Schultz and Rufus Payne.

This statement that The Carter Family “basically invented country music” is bizarre, particularly given the genre's efforts in recent years to spotlight an array of Black artists’ pivotal roles in creating and popularising the style of music we love today.

For instance, Appalachia's Lesley Riddle taught AP Carter, founding member of The Carter Family, songs such as ‘The Cannonball’ and ‘Coal Miner's Blues’, as well as aiding Maybelle Carter as she developed her distinctive ‘Carter Scratch’ guitar style.

This completely unnecessary faux-pas from the American Music Awards reinforces the point Beyoncé made across COWBOY CARTER - which ultimately won Favorite Country Album - that the genre's instrumental Black figures continue to be overlooked in discussions about country music's history, such as Linda Martell.

After his disbelieving reaction, Shaboozey was quick to proceed with the presentation, with Dan + Shay being crowned Favorite Duo or Group. It remains to be seen whether either Shaboozey or Megan Moroney will comment on the AMA Carter Family slip-up, with the clip of the former's side-eye rapidly going viral across TikTok.

For more on Shaboozey, see below: