Shania Twain and Shaboozey paid tribute to Willie Nelson, who just turned 93, along with the crowd at the 2026 ACM Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
Twain, the show’s host, took the stage with the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and asked the crowd to collectively wish Nelson a happy birthday. Shaboozey took a selfie video of the entire audience agreeing to their request, wishing him a happy birthday in unison, before he presented the single of the year award, which Nelson won in 1982 for “Always on My Mind.” (On Sunday night, the award went to Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas.”)
Earlier in the show, Twain paid tribute to the ACM Awards hosts who came before her as she kicked off the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards.
Sunday’s ceremony marked the country superstar’s first time hosting the annual award show. After Lainey Wilson kicked off the show with an energetic performance of “Can’t Sit Still,” Twain walked out onstage to her song “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” She noted in her monologue that it was 30 years ago when she won her first ACM Award, for her massively successful album Come On Over, featuring the aforementioned song.
Twain noted that started singing at age 8 but she didn’t have her first top 10 hit until she was 30. “I wrote my new album, called Little Miss Twain, all about that long journey, and I can’t wait to share it with you,” she said, noting that it drops in July.
