ACM Awards news

Country star Parker McCollum to headline 2024 ACM Awards benefit in The Colony

Parker McCollum will headline the 2024 ACM Awards Lifting Lives concert in DFW.

Photo via Parker McCollum/Facebook

UPDATE 4-23-2024: The entire concert lineup has been revealed and includes Old Dominion, Jordan Davis, Kameron Marlowe, Ashley Cooke, along with additional surprise guests.

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The ACM Awards will make Dallas-Fort Worth a country music mecca for the second year in a row when they arrive in May. Among the many Awards-adjacent events will be the ACM Lifting Lives LIVE benefit show, headlined by Texan Parker McCollum.

Officially called "Parker McCollum and Friends: ACM Lifting Lives LIVE, Presented by Choctaw Casinos & Resorts," the concert, a release says, "will raise money and awareness for ACM Lifting Lives, which works to improve lives through the power of music with a specific focus on health-related initiatives that use music therapy as a way of healing."

The show will take place on the golfing green at Topgolf in The Colony on May 15, the night before the 59th ACM Awards at The Star in Frisco. (Also exactly a month before McCollum takes the stage in College Station with another Texan, country icon George Strait.)

Fans might remember that the ACM Lifting Lives benefit was the event that Morgan Wallen was slated to headline in 2023; he had to cancel due to illness the day before and was replaced by Jason Aldean. Also taking the stage for the sold-out show were HARDY, Lainey Wilson, ERNEST, Bailey Zimmerman, and DJ 13lackbeard.

Additional performers for the 2024 edition will be announced in the coming weeks, organizers say.

"I am truly honored that ACM Lifting Lives has given me the opportunity to host the Parker McCollum & Friends: ACM Lifting Lives event this year at Topgolf in The Colony, TX,” McCollum says in the release. “The work they do to improve lives through the power of music and the funds they raise are vital to helping folks in and out of our country music community. I can't wait to have some of my really talented friends join me for a great night supporting the mission of ACM Lifting Lives and help them continue their incredible work."

General admission tickets on the green will be available to ACM Members, ACM A-List subscribers, 59th ACM Awards ticket holders, and Topgolf Friends and Family through an exclusive presale starting Thursday, March 21 at 10 am. Remaining tickets will be available for a general public on-sale, beginning Friday, March 22 at 10 am, through ACMLiftingLives.org/Concert. Tickets are $150.

All proceeds will go to ACM Lifting Lives, whose beneficiaries include the ACM Lifting Lives Autism Lab at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and their annual Music Camp for individuals with Williams syndrome. The nonprofit also gives to various organizations that provide mental health support for the country music community, the release says.

McCollum, a native of Conroe outside Houston, earned his first ACM Award for New Male Artist of the Year at the 2022 ACM Awards. He also won “Breakthrough Video of the Year” (a fully fan-voted honor) at the 2022 CMT Music Awards and earned two back-to-back CMA Awards nominations (2022 & 2023) for New Artist of the Year. He made his RodeoHouston debut as the Opening Day act in 2023.

He's currently on the road for a 41-date "Burn it Down" tour in support of his latest album, Never Enough.

“We have been massive fans of Parker for years, and we couldn’t be more excited that he chose to volunteer his time to help us raise money and awareness in his home state, says ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director Lyndsay Cruz in the release. "We can’t wait to party with the fans in North Texas so soon.”

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RIP Joe

Texas country music singer-songwriter Joe Ely dies at 78

Joe Ely/Facebook

Joe Ely was a major figure in Texas' progressive country scene.

Joe Ely, the legendary songwriter, singer, and storyteller whose career spanned more than five decades, has died from complications related to Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia. He was 78.

According to a statement posted to his Facebook page, Ely died at his home in Taos, New Mexico, with his wife Sharon, and daughter Marie, at his side.

Born February 9, 1947, in Amarillo, Texas, Ely was raised in Lubbock and became a central figure among a generation of influential West Texas musicians. He later settled in Austin, helping shape the city’s reputation as a hub for live music.

"Joe Ely performed American roots music with the fervor of a true believer who knew music could transport souls," said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

In the 1970s, Ely signed with MCA Records, launching a career that included decades of recording and touring around the world. His work and performances left a lasting impact on the music scene and influenced a wide range of artists, including the Clash and Bruce Springsteen, according to Rolling Stone.

"His distinctive musical style could only have emerged from Texas, with its southwestern blend of honky-tonk, rock & roll, roadhouse blues, western swing, and conjunto. He began his career in the Flatlanders, with fellow Lubbock natives Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and he would mix their songs with his through 50 years of critically acclaimed recordings."

Read the full story at KVUE.com.

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