{"id":776187,"date":"2026-05-06T01:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/776187\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T01:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:34:14","slug":"avery-anna-2026-acm-new-female-artist-of-the-year-winner-fun-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/776187\/","title":{"rendered":"Avery Anna, 2026 ACM New Female Artist of the Year Winner: Fun Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t<a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/avery-anna\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/avery-anna\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Avery Anna,<\/a> who was named the Academy of Country Music Awards\u2019 new female artist of the year on Tuesday (April 28), ahead of the 61st annual ACM Awards on May 17, is a fast-rising 22-year-old singer from Flagstaff, Arizona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tShe is signed to Warner Music Nashville, for whom she has released two full-length albums, Breakup Over Breakfast and Let Go Letters, and two EPs: Mood Swings and forgive, forget. She co-wrote all 17 songs on Breakup Over Breakfast, which features collaborations with Parmalee, Dylan Marlowe, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna. She also co-wrote and was featured on Sam Barber\u2019s hit \u201cIndigo,\u201d which reached No. 8 on Billboard\u2019s Hot Country Songs chart and No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.She has served as an opening act on tours by Josh Turner, Parmalee and Martina McBride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tShe joins a very impressive list of winners in the new female artist of the year category, which has been presented in all but seven years since the ACM Awards got underway in 1966. <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/shania-twain\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/shania-twain\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shania Twain<\/a>, who is set to host this year\u2019s show, won the award in 1996. Each of the top four nominees for this year\u2019s ACM Awards \u2013 <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/megan-moroney\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/megan-moroney\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Megan Moroney<\/a>, <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/miranda-lambert\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/miranda-lambert\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miranda Lambert<\/a>, <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/ella-langley\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/ella-langley\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ella Langley<\/a> and <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/lainey-wilson\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/lainey-wilson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lainey Wilson<\/a> \u2013 is a past winner in the category. Other past winners include Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Kelsea Ballerini and Ashley McBryde. And that\u2019s just in this century. Pre-2000 winners include Barbara Mandrell, Tanya Tucker, Olivia Newton-John, Linda Ronstadt, Crystal Gayle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tHere are five things to know about Avery Anna.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"pmc-fallback-list-items lrv-a-unstyle-list lrv-u-margin-t-2\">\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<p>\tAvery and Anna are her first and middle names<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAvery Anna was born Avery Anna Rhoton. Several other artists are known by their first and middle names, including Thomas Rhett (who was born Thomas Rhett Akins, Jr.), Carter Faith (her full name is Carter Faith Jones) and Bella Kay (who was born Bella Kathleen Ann Williams).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<p>\tShe loves country but has diverse tastes<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been singing and writing in a journal for as long as I can remember,\u201d the then-18-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/country\/avery-anna-narcissist-success-album-1235151825\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/country\/avery-anna-narcissist-success-album-1235151825\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told\u00a0Billboard\u2019s<\/a> Jessica Nicholson in 2022. \u201cSongwriting came from that. When I was younger, I would sing with my grandpa and he would play Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. That\u2019s where my love for\u00a0country\u00a0started, and I\u2019ve been raised on it. Of course, later on, I came to love Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini and so many more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t[Editor\u2019s Note: All three of those women won the same ACM Award that Avery Anna just won, as did another singer she praised in that interview \u2013 Donna Fargo. In 2021, Avery Anna covered Fargo\u2019s most famous hit, \u201cThe Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.\u201d in a TikTok video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cI love that song,\u201d she told Nicholson, \u201cBut I also loved Cage the Elephant and Noah Kahan and YEBBA.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<p>\tIt all started for her in a bathtub (it\u2019s an acoustics thing)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn October 2020, Anna posted a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@avery.anna.music\/video\/6878733143768157446?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;lang=en\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@avery.anna.music\/video\/6878733143768157446?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;lang=en\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok video <\/a>of herself in a bathtub, singing the Grammy-winning A Great Big World\/Christina Aguilera collab,\u00a0\u201cSay Something.\u201d\u00a0The clip landed 10 million views on TikTok. One of those viewers was Matt Thomas, lead vocalist and guitarist from the country group Parmalee, who shared the video with writer\/producer\/manager David Fanning. Fanning and his 33 Creative management company manager\/partner Tina Crawford reached out to Anna via Instagram, ultimately signing her to a management and production deal.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<p>\tShe didn\u2019t waste time when she set about pursuing her dreams<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn May 2021, Anna graduated from high school, having completed her final year via Zoom. Just three months later, at 17, she moved to Nashville. In June 2022, she signed a recording contract with Warner Music Nashville. Three months after that, she made her Grand Ole Opry debut.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"pmc-fallback-list-item-wrap lrv-u-margin-b-2\">\n<p>\tShe freaked out when Kelly Clarkson covered one of her songs on her talk show<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tKelly Clarkson\u00a0covered\u00a0Avery Anna\u2019s song \u201cNarcissist\u201d for a \u201cKellyoke\u201d segment on\u00a0The Kelly Clarkson Show. The young star cowrote the song with Andy Sheridan and Ben Williams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cI just remember being so in shock and so awestruck,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/kelly-clarkson-covers-narcissist-avery-anna-1235065173\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/kelly-clarkson-covers-narcissist-avery-anna-1235065173\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">she told Nicholson<\/a>. \u201cI used to watch Kelly Clarkson singing \u2018Piece by Piece\u2019 on\u00a0American Idol\u00a0over and over again on YouTube. Just knowing that she connected with a song that I wrote is insane, because my whole life it\u2019s been me connecting with her songs. It was just crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\t<a class=\"c-logo lrv-a-unstyle-link u-display-inline-flex lrv-u-width-100p  u-max-width-100 u-height-26 u-max-width-130px@mobile-max u-margin-t-040@mobile-max\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/\" title=\"Billboard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-tagline  a-font-accent-l@desktop u-font-size-1205 a-font-accent-xs@mobile-max u-font-size-15@mobile-max u-line-height-22px@mobile-max lrv-u-text-align-center@mobile-max u-letter-spacing-0030@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-t-025 lrv-u-margin-a-00 u-padding-t-0125@mobile-max u-padding-b-0063@mobile-max\">Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link  lrv-a-unstyle-button lrv-u-cursor-pointer lrv-u-display-inline-flex lrv-u-background-color-brand-primary lrv-u-background-color-black:hover lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-color-brand-primary:hover u-padding-lr-0.875 u-padding-tb-10 lrv-u-flex-shrink-0 u-align-items-center a-font-basic-fancy-xs u-margin-t-0.188 u-margin-b-0188 u-margin-b-040@mobile-max\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.email.billboard.com\/signup\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\tSign Up<\/a><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Avery Anna, who was named the Academy of Country Music Awards\u2019 new female artist of the year on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":776188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[37483,5800,171,29509,975,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-776187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-acm-awards","9":"tag-awards","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-genre-country","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116525063967138186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}