The 2026 ACM Awards returned to Las Vegas last night (Sunday, May 17th), with a dazzling array of country stars descending on the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the illustrious ceremony. Ella Langley took home a whopping seven awards, while Cody Johnson triumphed in the biggest category of the night: Entertainer of the Year.

However, often with these blockbuster ceremonies, the names that are notably absent often end up being just as big a talking-point as the ones that did make their way to Vegas.

We've compiled a list of some of the biggest artists that didn't show up at the 2026 ACM Awards, some of which were to be expected, others which were a little more surprising.

First and foremost, of course, Morgan Wallen - who was up for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year - unsurprisingly wasn't in attendance.

Wallen famously isn't too fond of the Awards circuit, especially given the CMA and ACM's perceived hostility towards him in the years following his 2021 racial slur controversy.

Despite being the biggest artist in the genre in terms of streams, charts, ticket sales and global standing, taking country music to an entirely new level in the 2020's, the ‘Last Night’ hitmaker continues to be largely snubbed by both the CMAs and ACMs.

The CMAs attempted to extend an olive branch to Wallen in 2024 by giving him Entertainer of the Year, despite him not being in attendance, but it seems the damage was already done from when the CMAs recruited the Sneedville native to perform the previous year, and then didn't give him any awards. Given how high Wallen is currently soaring, you honestly can't blame him for not bothering to show up anymore - his awards come in the form of his streaming Billboard chart records.

But what was interesting about this year's instalment of the ACM Awards is that Wallen was joined by a significant number of fellow country titans, including Megan Moroney.

Although she didn't receive any gongs, Moroney was the leading nominee heading into the ACM Awards. The ‘Tennessee Orange’ singer-songwriter took to socials shortly before the event to underline that she wasn't snubbing the awards show, explaining that she was abroad on Maid of Honour duties for her best friend, Natalie King.

Moroney shared alongside a photo of her and King via Instagram Stories, “I'm so honored to be nominated tonight at [the ACM Awards] & i'm rooting on all my friends from afar! i'm out of the country this week on MOH duty to get my bestie married”. It's a very valid reason to miss the ceremony, but given the fact that Moroney was widely deemed to have been snubbed at the CMA Awards last year - and that she didn't receive any awards at the 2026 ACM Awards - you can understand why Moroney wouldn't have had any qualms about skipping the latter.

Also absent last night was Luke Combs, who's on the road for his sprawling 2026 My Kinda Saturday Night World Tour. Combs and his wife Nicole recently had their third child, and the ‘Beautiful Crazy’ crooner was performing in Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday, so he was likely enjoying a well-earned night off with his family.

Even so, it feels somewhat telling that Combs decided the ACM Awards simply weren't that high on his list of priorities, given his consistent appearances at previous ceremonies.

Interestingly, Jelly Roll - usually one of the most prominent and affable personalities at these awards shows - was nowhere to be seen in Las Vegas yesterday evening.

This meant that four out of the seven 2026 ACM Entertainer of the Year nominees were not in attendance at the show, a worrying sign for the Academy of Country Music.

With artists like Wallen repeatedly eschewing Awards shows - and often making a point of dismissing their importance, like last year when he chose to go golfing with Tom Brady instead - it has undoubtedly chipped away at the ceremonies’ credibility. It feels like there's a growing mistrust and apathy towards awards shows, with listeners tending to look towards streaming and chart data for confirmation on who the ‘biggest’ and ‘most successful’ artists of the day truly are.

The fact that Zach Bryan, who has repeatedly rejected the label of ‘country’ and yet still releases his music under the genre-category, refuses to attend these events further damages their taste-making validity. Arguably, the dominant country artists today are Wallen, Bryan, Combs and Langley, with only one of these attending. It's worth flagging, too, that Post Malone, a more recent convert to the country scene but a juggernaut of the genre nonetheless, was absent as well. Similarly, Noah Kahan was not in attendance, a less surprising move given the folk-leaning troubadour does not flirt with country as much as he used to.

Legends of the genre such as Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire and Jason Aldean did not attend. McEntire was reportedly taking time to plan her wedding to Rex instead.

What does this mean for the future of the ACM Awards? It's starting to feel as though the governing body that somehow manages to find a way to welcome back and entice artists like Wallen, Combs and Moroney will set itself apart from the rest. At the moment, despite being fun, entertaining shows, these ceremonies are starting to feel increasingly out of touch with what country fans are actually listening to.

At a time when the credibility of all awards shows are being questioned, to have some the biggest names in the genre not even showing up feels more like a pointed snub than a casual schedule conflict. It seems one path forward would be to incorporate fans into the voting process, rather than having the winners determined by a mysterious ‘membership‘. The enigmatic nature of the current process cultivates mistrust and skepticism from fans when victors don't align with listening trends.

The Billboard Music Awards, for instance, is based solely on data (and unsurprisingly, Wallen is always one of the biggest winners). This helps to consolidate that ceremony as a transparent and relevant show, with Wallen having made an appearance - either in person or via video - at a number of recent BBMA shows.

In a way, it's a shame to spend so long delving into the absentees rather than celebrating those who did win, but until the ACMs and CMAs manage to halt this loss of appeal to fans and artists, then the spotlight will continue to be dimmed on the winners. Awards shows remain a fantastic way of toasting the game-changers and trailblazers within country music, as well as introducing many new fans to the genre, so it's more important than ever for these bodies to look forward and evolve.

For more on the ACM Awards 2026, see below: