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ACM Awards 2020: Luke Combs wins Album of the Year, but angry fans can't believe Miranda Lambert was snubbed

This is the second studio album by country singer Luke Combs and was released via River House Artists and Columbia Nashville in 2019

The 55th Academy of Country Music Awards were held on September 16, 2020, live from Nashville, Tennessee, for the first time in its history. Earlier, the Academy of Country Music had planned to hold the event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, where it’s been staged nearly every year since 2006. However, the Covid-19 pandemic led the organization to postpone the April 5 show and change the venue. With reportedly 40 songs by 25 participating artists lined up, the ceremony was truly a gala event. It celebrated country music with some amazing renditions and bestowed honor on the best of talents. 

Singer Luke Combs won the coveted Album of the Year award for ‘What You See Is What You Get’. ACM Awards tweeted his video announcing his win. 

Expressing his joy after receiving the award he said, "I'm at the Bluebird right now, a place that I always wanted to play before I moved to town. I just want to thank my management team, my family, my wife Nicole (Hocking), for being a lot of the inspiration on this. My producer Scott (Moffatt) for working with me on this," as reported by People. Thanking his fans he said, "I know you're out there watching somewhere. All the fans, thank you so much for loving this album. Thank you guys so much. Wow." The nomination for this top-tier category had ‘Center Point Road’ by Thomas Rhett, 'Girl’ by Maren Morris, ‘Heartache Medication’ by Jon Pardi and ‘Wildcard’ by Miranda Lambert. 

About the album

‘What You See Is What You Get’ is the second studio album by American country music singer Luke Combs. It was released via River House Artists and Columbia Nashville in 2019. The album comprises of 17 songs. Some of them include ‘Beer Never Broke My Heart’, ‘Refrigerator Door’, ‘Even Though I’m Leaving’, ‘Lovin’ on You (Luke Combs/Thomas Archer/Ray Fulcher/James McNair)’ and ‘Moon Over Mexico’. 

As per Billboard, the album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 on the chart on November 23, 2019, garnering nearly 109,000 pure album sales. In addition to becoming Combs' first US number-one album, it opened with the "largest week for a country album" since 2018 and became the biggest week in terms of streams for a country album on record.

No sooner that the honorable award was announced, the internet was abuzz with praises for the artist. Fans said that he truly deserved this award. Others adored his relationship to wife Nicole Hocking whom the artist thanked after winning the title.

A fan wrote, "Congrats, Combs, on Album of the Year. I can only imagine how hard it is to decide who wins what... All five nominees put out great albums last year, and would’ve deserved the award. Some years, they nominate some undeserving albums... Not this year.” Another wrote in his praise, “Congratulations Combs on Album of the Year. How I love all your music and the fact that no matter what you always mention @nicohocking and that is a real honor for a man to love his wife so much..just can’t love you both enough period.” 

However some fans wanted him to be honored with more awards such as Entertainer of the Year. Others congratulated him for winning in other categories such as Male artist of the year. A disgruntled fan wrote, "How the hell does Luke Combs not win Entertainer of the Year? You run Garth off from ever wanting it again, and Luke gets hosed???” Another concurred, “Luke Combs lost Country artist of the year to Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood... uhhh what?” A fan wrote in his praise, “Album of the year and male artist of the year? This is THE BEST artist I have ever had the pleasure of listening to” 

However, some users were disgruntled over Combs' win and said that they wanted Miranda Lambert's ‘Wildcard’ to be the winner. This is the first time Lambert, 36, has lost in the album of the year category which she had won for the first time in 2008 and has won every time she's been nominated since then. An angry user wrote, "I can’t fucking believe @lukecombs won album of the year... wtf. #ACMs what garbage. @mirandalambert's #Wildcard is stellar. Luke Combs can’t even speak in coherent sentences."

Another concurred, “#ACMawards Another bombed year for EOTY, even with 2 chances. @mirandalambert skipped over after one of the best albums ever. #SMFH.” 

The 2020 ACM Awards aired on Wednesday at 8 pm ET on CBS. While earlier the awards were scheduled to air on April 5, they were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Check the complete list of winners here.