Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The Academy of Country Music has rolled out the biggest news about its 16th annual ACM Honors event, happening Aug. 23 in Nashville — who the specially selected honorees will be, traditionally a curated mix of current superstars, veteran artists and industry execs or broadcast personalities. Chris Stapleton, Kane Brown and Tim McGraw are the reigning artist titans represented in the honorary awards, with Breland and Hardy representing a newer guard. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Clint Black and K.T. Oslin are the longer-standing artists getting their flowers from the ACM. Stapleton qualified for the ACM Triple Crown Award after being named entertainer of the year at the most recent ACM Awards for the first time. The honor goes to anyone who gets that top honor after previously having been named male (or female) vocalist of the year and new male (or female) vocalist of the year at the ACMs. Only eight artists have ever achieved the feat. (Stapleton’s predecessors: Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard, Miranda Lambert, Barbara Mandrell and Carrie Underwood.)
