Riley Green’s Big Week: Everything to Know About His May 2026 ACM Nod, ‘Marshals’ Shocker and Dating Buzz

Pour yourself a second cup of coffee, because country music’s most talked-about cowboy is having quite a moment. Between a shocking exit from a buzzy Yellowstone spinoff, an ACM Awards nomination and a romantic life that has fans glued to their phones, Alabama native Riley Green is giving us plenty to talk about this week.

And the timing couldn’t be better. The 61st Academy of Country Music Awards air Sunday, May 17, at 8 p.m. EST, streaming live on Prime Video and the Amazon Music Twitch channel. Shania Twain, 60, is hosting for the very first time, and four powerhouse women are dominating the nominations. Here’s everything you need to know before settling in for country music’s biggest night.

Mark your calendar: how to watch the ACM Awards

The 61st ACM Awards stream live on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17, at 8 p.m. EST from Las Vegas. If you’d rather make a weekend of it, tickets to the show run from $170 to $1,500 plus fees, with a “Country Cocktail” dress code.

The festivities actually kick off Friday, May 15, with ACM Lifting Lives Country On The Green: Riley Green & Friends, an intimate get-together featuring Green, Rodney Atkins, Randy Houser, Lauren Alaina and more. Proceeds benefit ACM Lifting Lives, a nonprofit that supports people working in country music. Saturday brings the ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash with Keith Urban, Tucker Wetmore and others.

Shania Twain takes the stage as host

The queen of country is back where she belongs. Twain has won plenty of ACM trophies over the years—including Female Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year—but this marks her debut as host.

“I’m thrilled to be hosting the 61st ACM Awards in Las Vegas, a place that feels like home,” Twain said in a statement. “It’s such an honor to be part of this incredible night celebrating country music’s biggest stars, especially with so many talented women leading nominations this year. I can’t wait to welcome all of the fans and artists out for this unforgettable night.”

The women are running the show

Twain isn’t kidding about the ladies leading the way. Four female artists are dominating this year’s nominations, with Megan Moroney out front at nine nods. She’s up for Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (“Am I Okay?”), Single of the Year (“6 Months Later”) and more.

Miranda Lambert follows with eight nominations, while Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson each earned seven. Wilson, a previous Entertainer of the Year winner, is nominated in that top category again.

Who’s performing live

The performance lineup is stacked. Expect to see Kane Brown, Blake Shelton, Ella Langley, Dan + Shay, The Red Clay Strays, Carter Faith, Thomas Rhett, Tucker Wetmore, Zach Top, Jordan Davis, Avery Anna and more take the stage. Shelton is stepping away from his Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace just for the night.

About that ‘Marshals’ twist…

If you’ve been watching the Yellowstone spinoff Marshals on CBS, you already know Riley Green’s character had a rough go of it. (Spoiler alert ahead!) In his acting debut, the 37-year-old country crooner played Garrett, a former Navy SEAL who served alongside Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes).

In the Sunday, May 10 episode, Garrett died at the hospital after suffering second-degree burns and smoke inhalation from a fire at Kayce’s ranch. Flashbacks also revealed a stunning twist: it was Garrett, not Cal, who made the fateful call during a Navy SEAL mission that resulted in a teammate’s death.

“I’m so excited to be joining the cast of Marshals. Being on set with my buddy Luke Grimes made the experience even more memorable,” Green said in a February statement. “This is my first go around in the acting space and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to this world.”

The sweet friendship behind the role

Here’s the heartwarming part: Green only landed the Marshals gig thanks to a sweet assist from his real-life friend Luke Grimes, 42. The two first crossed paths in Nashville at a bar called Losers while Grimes was pursuing his own music career. They started writing songs together, and when Green mentioned wanting to act, Grimes thought of Marshals.

But Green still had to audition the old-fashioned way—no special treatment.

“I’m the new guy here,” Green told Decider. “Certainly, because I’ve had a music career doesn’t mean that I’m any good at acting. So, I was glad that I got to go read, because it gave me a little confidence that they said, ‘Okay, you’re good enough to do it,’ because I had no clue if I was going to be any good.”

He told USA Today that having Grimes in his corner made all the difference: “I guess that doesn’t happen all the time, where the star of the show sits in with somebody trying out for a part. But man, I’ve got to be such good friends with Luke, and it makes it so much easier to step into a world that I wasn’t necessarily comfortable in.”

And now, the love-life rumors

Green is up for Male Artist of the Year at the ACMs, and his deluxe album Don’t Mind If I Do is nominated for Album of the Year. But fans are also pretty invested in his dating life.

First, there was Ella Langley, 27, his duet partner on the viral hit “you look like you love me.” Both have insisted they’re just friends. “Ella’s probably too smart to date me anyway”, Green joked on The Viall Files.

Then came Megan Moroney, 28. Rumors started in January 2025 when fans spotted the pair in St. Barthélemy at the same time, swimming with sharks in eerily similar photos. Then Moroney was pictured wearing what looked an awful lot like Green’s cowboy hat. Green later said he was single—but Moroney’s new album Cloud 9 has fans buzzing all over again.

The song “Who Hurt You?” includes the lyric, “The devil went down to Georgia/Then he crossed the ‘Bama line”—which fans think is a not-so-subtle nod to Green’s home state of Alabama. “Bar for bar, didn’t lie, said everything so that I don’t have to answer interview questions about the situation,” Moroney told Elaina Smith.

So grab the snacks, settle in on the couch and tune in Sunday at 8 p.m. on Prime Video. Between Shania’s hosting debut, the women cleaning up the nominations and Riley Green’s every move being analyzed, this is one country music night you won’t want to miss.