When the Academy of Country Music Awards nominations were revealed on Tuesday morning (April 9), “Tennessee Orange” hitmaker Megan Moroney scored six nominations, including new female artist of the year and female artist of the year, making her the leading female artist nominee heading into the awards show on May 16 (she ties with Morgan Wallen for six nominations, while only Luke Combs has more nominations this year, with eight).
“I was still in bed, because I just got back from the CMT Music Awards, so I started seeing my phone blowing up with the news,” she tells Billboard of learning of her ACM Awards nominations. “It’s crazy to me that I’m nominated for new female artist and female artist at the same time — I didn’t even know you could do that, so I think that was the most surprising.”
Meanwhile, she also earns nominations in the visual media of the year and music event of the year categories, for “Can’t Break Up Now,” which she collaborated on with country group Old Dominion. That’s in addition to her nominations as both writer and artist for her college football-framed, star-crossed romance single “Tennessee Orange” in the song of the year category. She wrote “Tennessee Orange” with Ben Williams, David Fanning and Paul Jenkins.
“I’m also really proud of the song of the year, because I care so much about my songwriting and my songwriter friends,” Moroney says. “I think it’s all just insane. It is a dream to be nominated and to be the top female nominated this year, I’m just like, ‘What the heck?’”
These six nominations are a testament to the rocket ride the Georgia-born singer-songwriter has been on since she began releasing songs such as “Hair Salon” and “Wonder.” But it was “Tennessee Orange” that went viral in 2022 and Moroney was quickly signed to Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records. Currently, Moroney has two songs in the top 25 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart: “Can’t Break Up Now” and her own “I’m Not Pretty.” Her headlining Lucky 2.0 tour launches next month, while this spring and summer will also find Moroney playing stadiums, in support of Kenny Chesney’s Sun Down 2024 Tour, as well as a performance at massive country music festival Stagecoach. In September, Moroney will make the trek overseas for a 15-show headlining Georgia Girl tour in the U.K. and Europe.
All of it serves as evidence of the success of an artist who has managed to blend eye-catching, Southern-soaked glamour with live shows that have an intimate, confessional feel, and songs that poetically expose a spectrum of deep-seated emotions and musings.
Moroney says she’s grateful for the ACM Awards nominations, knowing that they are voted on by her industry peers. “I feel very embraced by the country music community, and that is the cherry on top,” she says. “My fans have been so supportive and showed up for me. So that the industry would recognize what we’re building together, it means a lot to me. And it’s reassuring to know that the songs that I’m writing and all the work that my team and I are putting in every day is paying off.”
The upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards will air on May 16 via Prime Video, streaming live across more than 240 countries and territories from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Moroney hasn’t yet given too much thought just yet to how she will celebrate if she takes home some one or more ACM Awards trophies, saying, “I’m just taking it all in today. But I think I would definitely celebrate with some tequila or something. My songwriter friends are going to be there and just getting to hang out with everyone that I don’t always get to see when I’m on the road is just such a treat.”
Building on the momentum of her 2023 debut studio album Lucky, Moroney recently began letting fans in on new music, including “No Caller ID” and “28th of June,” seeding an impending new album release.
“The album is 98%, maybe 99% done. I’m just kind of tweaking the mixes and stuff,” she tells Billboard. “There are no drastic changes in sound, but I do think the happy songs are happier and the sad songs are sadder. I think it’s a great look into the last year of my life and my songwriting.”
Though she says there are no straightforward collaborations on the album, she does hint, “I do have someone pretty cool singing some background vocals on one of the songs.”
Though her career is still on the ascent, Moroney has some big, sparkling dreams for expanding her empire: “I hope I’ll have a bar on Broadway, and I would love my own boot line, since I’m obsessed with boots, as everyone knows. That is definitely on my radar. I’m still in a building period right now with my career, but it’s something I think about and something we’re trying to plan for.”
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