For Cody Johnson fans, last year’s ACM Awards was one for the books. The native Texan performed a stripped-down version of his Top 5 country hit “Dirt Cheap.” This year, he’ll walk into the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, with the most nominations he’s ever received in a single year. Ahead of Thursday’s (May 8) ceremony, Johnson, 37, talked his record-breaking night. He also discussed what it means to perform alongside Brooks & Dunn.
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Cody Johnson Is Tied For ACM’s Most-Nominated Male Artist
At this year’s ACM Awards, Cody Johnson is up for Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Song of the Year aid Single of the Year for “Dirt Cheap,” and Music Event of the Year for the Carrie Underwood duet “I’m Gonna Love You.” He also has two bites at the Visual Media of the Year apple, scoring nominations for “I’m Gonna Love You” and “Dirt Cheap.”
While trying not to let his hopes rise too much, Johnson can’t deny that the recognition feels good. He and Morgan Wallen are the most-nominated men of the night with seven nods apiece.
“Honestly, I try not to pay attention to this stuff too much. Usually my wife tells me, or my manager will call and say, ‘Hey, by the way,’” Johnson told Country Now. “It’s one of those things that I don’t want to put too much stock into because I guess I’m afraid of the disappointment of not.”
He continued, “But then when you find out, you’re like, ‘This is what I’ve worked for my entire life.’ So absolutely it’s cool.”
[RELATED: Could a Luke Combs + Cody Johnson Collab Be in the Works? Here’s What CoJo Has to Say]
On Performing With His “Heroes”
Aside from potentially leaving the ACM Awards with a lot of new hardware, Cody Johnson has another reason to be excited. He will join Brooks & Dunn onstage to perform their rendition of “Red Dirt Road.” Johnson collaborated with the duo for a version of the song appearing on their 2019 album Reboot.
“I think my favorite part of playing ‘Red Dirt Road’ with Brooks & Dunn is the fact that it’s not the original, that it’s kind of a broken down acoustic thing,” CoJo told Country Now. “All the guitar signatures are different. And me and my band play it every now and then on stage, just us, so it kind of feels like it’s part of our career now.”
Featured image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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