Academy of Country Music awards pushed to September due to coronavirus

The 55th Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony has been postponed following concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak. The awards were originally slated to happen on April 5 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. "The ACM Awards is a tentpole event for our Country Music industry, and the Academy of Country Music and dick clark productions went to great lengths to find a safe solution for the show to go on so that we can honor our artist community. "This decision involved many partners, stakeholders and the industry who we have been in constant conversations with over the past several days as the situation has developed. We look forward to identifying a future date that we can celebrate with our Country community safely," said ACM CEO Damon Whiteside in a statement to Billboard. COVID-29, which originated in China, has claimed over 6,500 lives and infected more than 169,000 people over 135 countries and territories.