Bobby Bones has been a part of a lot of awards shows over the years, but the recent 2020 ACM Awards was something new, even for him. The host of the Bobby Bones Show, who also won the ACM Award for National Radio Personality of the Year, presented the trophy for Song of the Year (for Old Dominion’s “One Man Band“) during the live broadcast, and admits the experience was unlike any awards show he has participated in in the past.
“I just miss seeing folks,” Bobby told Everything Nash. “Even doing the ACMs was weird, because there was no red carpet. There’s no meeting rooms. We were all in separate buses outside of the venue. You got walked in, and you didn’t see anybody unless they were right there going on when you were. Then you got right out, and they sent you right home. So it was not the most normal night, but I’m super glad that at least we got to have the ACMs.”
Bobby joined millions of Americans in being stunned to have, for the first time in the history of the ACM Awards, a tie for the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year, with both Carrie Underwood and Thomas Rhett sharing the title.
“I don’t think anybody wanted them sharing it, honestly,” Bobby said. “This isn’t the first tie ever. It’s the first tie in a major category. So there is a bit of history with there being ties. The weird thing is, there are thousands of people that vote. And then there was a tie. Now that being said, just being on the [Academy of Country Music] board myself, how this works is, the categories go up and the ACMs, they don’t know who wins. There is a firm that comes in to get the winners, and to keep the winners secret. In this case, they had to keep it secret for five months, and to have no personal interest in this at all. They don’t know the environment, they don’t know the people.
‘And so until it’s all done and tabulated and official, the ACMs don’t even know it,” he added. “So when Thomas and Carrie were announced as both Entertainers of the Year, I was shocked.”
Carrie and Thomas were nominated along with Luke Bryan, Luke Combs and Eric Church — five artists Bobby said were all worthy of being named Entertainer of the Year. But, with two of country music’s biggest artists sharing the Entertainer of the Year title, the Arkansas native is glad the ACM Awards also came out ahead.
“There have been worse things in the world that have happened, than two of my favorite artists and two of my friends sharing the big awards,” he reflected. “It’s been great for the ACMs too, because people are talking about it. That is great.”
