When ACM noms didn’t ‘Happen’ for Russell Dickerson, this made him feel better

Russell Dickerson (Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)

At Wednesday’s #1 party for “Happen to Me” at BMI in Nashville, Russell Dickerson was open about being shut out of the nominations for the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards, after having the biggest year of his career so far. 

It’s a disappointment made better by the fact that he’s up for best country song at the fan-voted American Music Awards.

“Speaking very candidly,” Russell told reporters, “there was another award show that was announced the week before and that was kind of like, ‘Oh man, that woulda been cool to be in that category.'”

“So this coming out a week later or whatever was definitely like — [it] picked the spirits back up. And it being an all-genre show is what’s a little cherry on top. Feels nice,” he added. 

The 61st ACMs take place May 17 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, while the AMAs are Memorial Day, May 25, at the same venue. 

You can vote for Russell’s song online

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Download the WEIS Radio app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our text alerts here.

Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Email
Print